12 August 2024 – Today the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal unanimously dismissed the bid by seven pro-democracy figures including Jimmy Lai, Margaret Ng, and Martin Lee, to overturn a guilty conviction for organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly in August 2019. Over 1.7 million people attended this peaceful protest.
Their appeal centred on whether their convictions were proportionate to fundamental human rights protections. The defence claimed that the unauthorised assembly did not lead to serious public disorder, and that the conviction would be a disproportionate restriction to freedom of assembly.
Although the verdict was written by Hong Kong Chief Justice Andrew Cheung and Judge Roberto Ribeiro, it was supported by British Judge Lord David Neuberger who agreed with the main verdict, stating that the “issue has been fully and impressively considered.”
Lord Neuberger, former President of the UK Supreme Court and current chair of the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, an independent advisory body of the Media Freedom Coalition, was part of the five-judge panel on the Court of Final Appeal.
Lord Neuberger has previously stated that he would remain on Hong Kong's highest court to support the rule of law in Hong Kong as best he can. Two other British judges, Lord Sumption and Lord Collins recently resigned their positions citing the political situation in Hong Kong. Sumption wrote that Hong Kong was becoming a totalitarian state. Canadian Judge Beverly McLachlin has also said she will stand down from Hong Kong courts.
Lord Neuberger continues to give credibility to a broken system. The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation finds it scandalous and a discredit to the British judiciary that a senior member of the legal establishment takes an active role in the jailing of political prisoners in Hong Kong. This appeal case just provides more evidence that the foreign judges on the Court of Final Appeal, are lending their prestige to the persecution of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation calls on Neuberger and the other six foreign judges to immediately resign their positions and to stop giving credibility to a legal system that is playing an active role in the destruction of the rule of law, human rights, and democracy in Hong Kong.
Mark Sabah, UK & Europe Director of the CFHK Foundation said:
“It’s simply astonishing that Lord Neuberger is sitting on the Hong Kong court justifying convictions given to peaceful protesters. It’s hypocrisy of the highest order given his role on the International Bar Association’s High-Level Legal Panel on Media Freedom and as a Trustee of the UK Charity Prisoners Abroad. He should be ashamed of himself, instead of doubling down and justifying his decisions. He should resign immediately rather than remain part of a sham trial against British citizen Jimmy Lai.”
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