The Guardian
Phillips, who the court of final appeal said was stepping down for ‘personal reasons’, is fifth foreign judge to leave city’s judiciary this year.
The British judge Nicholas Phillips has stepped down from Hong Kong’s top appeals court, the fifth overseas judge to leave the city’s judiciary this year.
Phillips, 86, is leaving Hong Kong’s court of final appeal (CFA) after 22 years for “personal reasons” after his fourth term ended on Monday and he said he did not wish to extend it, the court said.
Phillips was among a long line of non-permanent foreign judges to serve on Hong Kong’s judiciary, including from the UK, Australia and Canada. He is the fifth foreign judge to resign from the court this year, and the 10th since the introduction of the 2020 national security law that criminalised acts of dissent and subversion. The law has been criticised as vaguely defined and the government accused of wielding it as a political weapon against the pro-democracy movement.
In a statement to the Guardian the judiciary said it was grateful to Phillips for “his support for the rule of law in Hong Kong”.
“Despite the departure of some [non-permanent judges, or NPJs] in recent years, an overwhelming majority of the serving and departed NPJs have publicly reiterated their continued confidence in judicial independence in Hong Kong and the commitment of the Hong Kong courts towards upholding the rule of law,” it said.
Two other British judges who resigned from the CFA this year – Jonathan Sumption and Lawrence Collins – both cited the new political situation in Hong Kong. In an opinion piece in the Financial Times in June, Sumption said Hong Kong “is slowly becoming a totalitarian state”.
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