The Mainlandization of Hong Kong's judiciary continues apace

A protest sign from a different time in Hong Kong history

 

Themis, the Greek Goddess of Justice and Law, still stands high

atop the main facade of the Court of Final Appeal Building

-- but is justice really still blind in Hong Kong?

Various members of the press and public -- the latter of whom included "Grandma" Alexandra Wong -- queued up overnight last night to make sure they could get into the court and witness the Court of Final Appeal's handing down its ruling as to whether Jimmy Lai would be allowed out on bail after being charged under China's security law for Hong Kong this morning.  As many of them probably could have predicted, the answer was in the negative; this especially after it was revealed that Carrie Lam had met privately with Chief Justice Andrew Cheung four days before the court heard that particular appeal. 

 

Consequently, the 73-year-old pro-democracy media tycoon will be spending Chinese New Year behind bars.  So much for the long held English common law idea of "innocent until proven guilty", and a sure sign that Hong Kong's legal system is falling in line with China's, which presumes that suspects are guilty until proven innocent.   

 

In another sign that Hong Kong's judiciary is becoming Mainlandized, it has been reported that Hong Kong has decided against using a jury for the first trial under the national security law imposed by Beijing.  Instead, the trial of Tong Ying-kit will be heard by three judges who have been appointed to try national security cases. 

 

A measure of how much of a sea change this represents can be seen by way of trial by jury having been used by Hong Kong’s common law legal system for 176 years and described by its justice department as one of the judiciary’s “most important features”.  Su Xinqi (who goes by Xinqu Su over on Twitter) ended her report by stating the following: 

Hong Kong’s internationally respected legal system has come under sustained pressure in the politically charged wake of 2019’s huge pro-democracy protests and Beijing’s subsequent crackdown.

The national security law imposed by Beijing has silenced dissent and dented the legal firewall between the business hub and the mainland.

Senior Chinese politicians, state media outlets as well as leading pro-Beijing figures and newspapers within Hong Kong have also lobbied for reforming the judiciary or criticised recent judgments and sentences they dislike. 

Opponents fear those calls could presage the arrival of a legal system more akin to the authoritarian mainland.

Inside China, criminal courts have no juries, answer to the party and have a near-universal conviction rate.

In other news: yes, there currently is another "ambush-style" lockdown being effected tonight.  And for the record: Last night's two "ambush-style" lockdowns saw more than 1,500 people tested for the Wuhan coronavirus but no new cases.  Not counting tonight's operation, some 24,000 people have been tested over the course of the "ambush-style" lockdowns, with a grand total of just 4 of them testing positive for the coronavirus.  Oh, and today saw Hong Kong reporting 26 new cases; 5 of them imported.