How can the British judge who upheld Jimmy Lai’s conviction sleep at night?
The IndependentJimmy Lai, together with his friends in Hong Kong, ranks alongside the world’s greatest dissidents and champions of freedom. The decision by Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal to reject an appeal by these seven courageous Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders against a conviction for taking part in a peaceful protest in 2019 is – as the last British governor of Hong Kong Lord Chris Patten rightly said – “unjust”. That a British judge, Lord David Neuberger, one of the few remaining retired foreign judges still sitting in Hong Kong’s courts, sat on the panel that upheld the conviction brings shame to Lord Neuberger and Britain. Even more shocking is that Lord Neuberger, in the written judgment, said the chief justices had “fully and impressively” considered questions regarding whether the conviction was proportionate to the defendants’ fundamental human rights, enshrined in Hong Kong’s bill of rights – including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. In this case, perhaps some of his views on the law changed between the first-class waiting room at Heathrow and the arrival terminal of Hong Kong International Airport.” Several overseas non-permanent judges have resigned from the Hong Kong bench, including Lord Neuberger’s British colleagues Lord Jonathan Sumption and Lord Lawrence Collins, and a Canadian judge, Beverley McLachlin.