Regina Ip copes with Lord Sumption’s departure in China Daily…
In his parting diatribe, Sumption let his emotions run away with him. In sharing the sympathies of naive bystanders who side with the seemingly decent “democracy” fighters in the case of “35+”, Sumption turned a blind eye to the criminal intent of the participants in the plot to reject the government’s budget with a view to forcing the resignation of the chief executive and unleashing chaos on Hong Kong. He was dishonest in saying that ordinary laws would have been adequate to quell the months of riots in Hong Kong.
…Sumptions’ vitriolic parting words are unjustified, uncalled-for, and a blot on his otherwise laudable career as one of Hong Kong’s venerable overseas judges. For someone who has worked with Hong Kong through its trials and tribulations in the past five years, his words were the unkindest cut, and will go down in infamy.
…Every passing storm showcases the Hong Kong’s judiciary’s resilience. Hong Kong’s courts have indeed remained “competent and independent”. They are sure to go from strength to strength.
Meanwhile, National Post reports that Canadian judge Beverley McLachlin…
…renewed her three-year appointment on a Singapore commercial court months before announcing she was leaving a controversial post on a Hong Kong court to spend more time with her family.
(Overseas judges on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal typically spend no more than one month a year actually on the job. As well as providing a nice little HK$400,000, it offers the perfect excuse to get away from your family after 11 dreary months with them.)
Has Regina had some assistance from the administration’s vitriol generator?
O/T-ish but sort of related:
Article 23 team commended (news.gov.hk)
The task force held nearly 30 consultation sessions to provide detailed briefings to various sectors of the community during the one-month public consultation period. It took less than a week to conduct a comprehensive analysis on over 13,000 submissions received, and introduced the finalised bill to LegCo for scrutiny nine days after the consultation period concluded.
During the Bills Committee’s scrutiny, the task force gave detailed replies to more than 1,000 questions raised by LegCo members, and proposed 91 amendments after listening to and studying their views.
Commendable performance indeed for the civil service but one wonders just how thorough the process was.
“…go down in infamy.” Now Ip’s channeling Franklin D. Roosevelt. For her, I guess it’s the polite, less spittle-spewing version of “sinner for a thousand years.”
Kudos to the National Post for snapping octogenarian Judge Bev as a feisty fifty-something – almost saying ‘gotcha’ to the HK authorities for her wriggling away to Singapore and the rest of her career.