外國法官退出香港最高法院，因擔憂國家安全法

Recently Yahoo News reported the following:

Foreign judge quits Hong Kong's top court, cites national security law concerns

Reuters Fri., September 18, 2020, 12:47 a.m. PDT

HONG KONG/SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - One of the 14 foreign judges on Hong Kong's highest court said he had resigned due to concerns over a sweeping new national security law imposed by Beijing on the former British colony, Australia's national broadcaster reported on Friday.

The office of the city's leader Carrie Lam confirmed the resignation of Australian judge James Spigelman but did not give a reason.

Spigelman, the former Chief Justice of New South Wales, is the first senior judge to resign and publicly criticise the law, passed by China's parliament.

The Polish-born jurist told the ABC that he resigned for reasons "related to the content of the national security legislation" but did not elaborate further.

Spigelman did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

His departure comes amid alarm in local and international legal circles at Beijing's imposition of a national security law on the freewheeling financial hub, which boasts an independent legal system based on the common law.

Under the security legislation, Lam has the right to select judges for a panel of jurists to handle national security cases. In the most serious cases, suspects can also be taken to mainland China for trial in its courts that are ultimately controlled by the Communist Party.

"Mr Justice Spigelman tendered to the Chief Executive on 2 September his resignation as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, therefore the Chief Executive revoked his appointment in accordance with the relevant legislation," Lam's office responded in an email to queries about his departure. "Mr Justice Spigelman did not give any reason for his resignation," it said.

A spokesman for the Judiciary said they had no further comment to offer.

Spigelman was re-appointed to another three-year term on the Hong Kong court last year.

Foreign judges have long been considered a symbol of Hong Kong's judicial independence, helping to replace traditional role of the Privy Council in London after Britain handed the city back to Chinese rule in 1997. (Reporting By Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Swati Pandey in Sydney; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Translation

路透香港/悉尼9月18日 -  澳大利亞國家廣播公司在週五報導, 香港最高法院的14名外國法官之一表示，由於擔憂北京對前英國殖民地實施的新的全面的國家安全法而辭職。

該市領導林鄭月娥的辦公室證實了澳大利亞法官施覺民（James Spigelman）的辭職，但沒有說明原因。

施覺民是新南威爾士州的前首席大法官，是第一位辭職並公開批評該中國全國人大會議上表決通過該法律的高級法官。

這位波蘭出生的法學家告訴美國廣播公司（ABC），他辭職的原因是“與國家安全立法的內容有關”，但他沒有進一步闡述。

施覺民沒有立即回應路透社的置評請求。

在他的離任之際，正值北京隨心所欲地, 在壹個擁有基於普通法的獨立法律體系的自由金融中心實行國家安全法, 因而引起了當地和國際律界的震驚。

根據這安全法，林鄭月娥有權選擇法官組成法學家小組來處理國家安全案件。在最嚴重的情況下，犯罪嫌疑人也可以被帶到中國大陸法院受審，中國大陸法院最終是由中國共產黨控制。

關於他的離開, 林鄭的辦公室在一封電子郵件中回覆說：「大法官施覺民先生於9月2日向行政長官遞交辭任終審法院非常任法官的職位，因此行政長官已根據有關法例撤銷其委任。」。又說：「大法官施覺民先生沒有給出辭職的任何理由」。

司法機構發言人說，他們沒有進一步的評論。

去年，施覺民在香港法院再次獲得連任，任期三年。

長期以來，外國法官一直被視為香港司法獨立的象徵，在英國於1997年將香港移交給中國統治之後，幫助取代了樞密院在倫敦的傳統角色。

It is quite likely that more foreign judges on Hong Kong's highest court would resign due to concerns over the national security law imposed by Beijing. Given the increasingly strong nationalism sentiment in China, foreign judges, as a symbol of Hong Kong's judicial independence, probably would disappear in Hong Kong gradually.