The Goddess of Justice needs our support | Beyond The Law | José Antonio Maurellet SC

I have just returned from London and the annual International Bar Association conference in Copenhagen. It is important for Hong Kong lawyers to meet other members of the legal fraternity and learn from one another.

This is especially so when learning from other members of our common law family with whom we share a common legal heritage, including judicial independence and independent legal professions in which the best lawyers serve the community through resolving complex commercial disputes and serious criminal cases.

We have been very fortunate in that our role as a leading international financial center has meant that many complex and high-value disputes are resolved in our courts. The rise of arbitration has also resulted in an increase in court cases relating to those arbitrations. This is a huge boon for our city as legal services employ a great number of people, pay a significant amount of taxes and help our trade balance.

In addition, this allows us to enjoy soft power, which is important if we are to play our role of a super connector as envisaged. Therefore, a persistent and serious judicial shortage has knock-on effects notwithstanding the many good steps our city’s judiciary has already taken.

Consistent with other leading financial centers like Singapore and London, the bench is made up of senior and top practitioners. Unlike civil servants who often join upon graduation, our senior judges are drawn from people who are already at the apex of their careers, and the serious gap between private and public remuneration needs to be narrowed rather than addressed by recruiting fresh graduates.

This would not only be unorthodox but would also risk raising concerns among the general public and the international business community.

In fact, the recruitment of fresh graduates to join the judiciary will face the same problem, as able young lawyers would also need to be provided with attractive conditions, given that they are offered packages which can exceed a few million dollars in their early 30s.

The solution is clear. Hong Kong needs to invest in its judiciary, both in its software and hardware, as soon as possible. How we choose to spend public resources ultimately reflects what sort of society we are and wish to be.

José Antonio Maurellet SC is the Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓