Canadian judge Beverley McLachlin is to step down from the Court of Final Appeal when her term ends on July 29, according to a statement seen by the Globe and Mail. It comes amid years of pressure to resign, and days after two British judges quit the apex court last week – both citing politics.
In the statement, the ex-Canadian Supreme Court justice noted that she had turned 80, as she gave her backing to the judiciary: “While I will continue certain professional responsibilities, I intend to spend more time with my family… It has been a privilege serving the people of Hong Kong. I continue to have confidence in the members of the Court, their independence, and their determination to uphold the rule of law.”
She added that she informed Chief Justice Andrew Cheung of her decision on May 24.
Appointed as a non-permanent judge in 2018, with her tenure extended in 2021, McLachlin was the first Canadian to join the top court.
In a statement published in the early hours of Tuesday, a government spokesperson paid tribute to McLachlin: “The HKSAR Government expressed gratitude to Madam Justice McLachlin for her contribution to the Hong Kong judicial system during her term of office and for her objective appraisal of rule of law in Hong Kong.”
Last December, McLachlin told the Globe and Mail that the “court is doing a terrific job of helping maintain rights for people, insofar as the law permits it, in Hong Kong. Which is as much as our courts do.” In 2022, Canada’s former justice minister Irwin Cotler urged her to resign over the security law.
Three resignations
Last Thursday, British judges Lord Jonathan Sumption, 75, and Lord Lawrence Collins, 83, resigned from the top court. The latter cited the “political situation,” whilst Lord Sumption said in a Financial Times opinion piece on Monday that judges’ freedoms had been “severely limited” amid an “oppressive atmosphere” and paranoia among the authorities.
The government, in turn, said it strongly disagreed on Monday, saying in a statement that such ideas were “utterly wrong, totally baseless, and must be righteously refuted.”
News of the resignations came days after an investigation by The Independent revealed that British judges were paid £40,000 (HK$399,225) per month to sit on the top court, with flights, accommodation and travel also expensed.
The resignations also came weeks after NGO, the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, released a report claiming “foreign judges are lending legitimacy to Beijing’s crackdown on political freedoms in Hong Kong,” as they called on them to step down.
The presence of international judges has historically given credibility to Hong Kong’s common law legal tradition. In March 2022, Lord Robert Reed and Lord Patrick Hodge resigned from the Court of Final Appeal, with judicial independence continuing to be in the spotlight following the enactment of the security law.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure.
The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
Separate to the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of to up to 16 days, and suspects’ access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison.
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