New Chief Justice For Hong Kong

The Wall St Jnl reports that the Hong Kong government said it will name Geoffrey Ma, a judge for the last nine years with a long history in private practice, to take over as the city’s new chief justice later this year.


The report goes on to say

Mr. Ma, 54 years old, takes on a critical role as the man charged with maintaining Hong Kong’s judicial autonomy under Chinese sovereignty. He succeeds Andrew Li, 61, who announced last September his intention to step down as head of the Court of Final Appeal this coming August.

Mr. Ma served in private practice from 1978 until 2001, when he was appointed as a judge in the Court of First Instance. He was later promoted to a justice in the Court of Appeal. Mr. Ma’s wife is also a judge in the appellate court.

Despite his short tenure on the bench and relative youth, Mr. Ma was named the chief judge of the High Court, the city’s second-highest court, from July 2003. That appointment likely paved the way for his eventual ascension to the top judicial job, according to legal professionals.

Mr. Li told reporters Thursday he is confident Mr. Ma “will uphold the rule of law and safeguard judicial independence, and that the judiciary, under his leadership, will continue to ensure that individual rights and freedoms of citizens are fully safeguarded.”

In the 13 years he has served as chief justice since Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule, Mr. Li has been widely viewed as a staunch defender of Hong Kong’s judicial autonomy. However, the independent judiciary enshrined in Hong Kong’s constitution has faced significant challenges since the 1997 handover, with China’s legislature having made binding interpretations of Hong Kong law in recent years.

Ronny Tong, a barrister and opposition lawmaker, said Mr. Ma’s appointment was likely influenced in part by his age given that he is “very senior in his profession but relatively young.” He praised Mr. Ma for being “keen on grooming the next generation of the legal profession.”

Mr. Tong also noted that Mr. Ma has taken a conservative view on administrative law and human-rights issues, citing an earlier ruling in which the justice dismissed an appeal from four practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual group against the government’s decision to deny them entry into Hong Kong in 2003.

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