The Economist-Foreign judges are fed up with Hong Kongs political environment China
June 14, 2024 2 min 220 words
这篇文章主要讨论了香港终审法院三名外籍法官的辞职，文章认为这是对香港政治环境恶化和中国政府干预的回应。文章中提及，香港终审法院自1997年成立以来，一直由当地和外籍法官共同担任，外籍法官通常来自英国澳大利亚和加拿大等遵循普通法系的国家，他们习惯于在不受干涉的情况下行使司法权力。然而，随着香港领导人变得越来越压制，政治环境恶化，导致外籍法官选择辞职。文章引用了法官乔纳森苏姆普申（Jonathan Sumption）的言论，他表示香港大多数法官都是“正直的人，拥有普通法系的自由本能”，但他们不得不在中国创造的“不可能的政治环境”中运作。 评论： 这篇文章关注香港外籍法官的辞职事件，反映了香港政治环境的变化和中国政府的影响。文章提到外籍法官辞职的原因是“政治环境恶化”，并引用苏姆普申法官的言论来强调这一观点。然而，文章可能存在一定程度的偏见，因为它忽略了香港政治环境变化的复杂性，以及中国政府为维护香港稳定和繁荣所做的努力。此外，文章可能过度强调外籍法官的作用，而忽略了香港本地法官在维护法治方面所发挥的关键作用。因此，这篇文章虽然提出了一些值得关注的问题，但它可能没有全面地呈现香港的政治和法律环境，并可能夸大了中国政府的影响。
IT IS AN unusual arrangement, to be sure. Since its establishment in 1997, the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong has had both local and foreign judges on its bench. The set-up was part of the deal that handed the territory from Britain to China that year. The foreigners, who hold non-permanent seats, tend to have impressive legal backgrounds and come from other common-law jurisdictions, such as Britain, Australia and Canada. So they are accustomed to exercising judicial power “independently and free from any interference”, as laid out in the territory’s mini-constitution, called the Basic Law.
The court still operates largely as envisioned. But Hong Kong’s leaders are growing more oppressive, forcing the foreign judges to make a tough choice. Three out of ten on the Court of Final Appeal have resigned this month. Two British judges, Jonathan Sumption (pictured) and Lawrence Collins, jumped first, noting the deteriorating political situation. Days later a Canadian judge, Beverley McLachlin, said she would also depart, citing personal reasons. Lord Sumption, hitherto a defender of the role of foreign judges on the court, explained his thinking in the Financial Times. Most of Hong Kong’s judges are “honourable people with all the liberal instincts of the common law”, he wrote. “But they have to operate in an impossible political environment created by China.”