Officiating for the last time caps annual ceremony and Li's career

HONG KONG: Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal Andrew Li yesterday received a standing ovation from the legal fraternity as he officiated at the ceremonial opening of the Legal Year 2010 for the last time.

At the press conference after the ceremony, he said he was deeply touched and expressed his thanks for support from various quarters of the community.

During the ceremony, Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung expressed deep gratitude to Li, who will retire in September, for his historic role in the successful implementation of "One Country, Two Systems" principle and in the establishment of the top appellate court in Hong Kong.

On the same occasion, Bar Association chairman Russell Coleman said he is sorry to see Li go, while Law Society president Huen Wong praised Li as deserving their gratitude for his service to Hong Kong and for his contribution to the stability that they now enjoy.

In his welcoming speech, Li said it was the 13th and last address to the legal year opening ceremony. During this period, judicial independence has been universally recognized and accepted to be of pivotal importance to Hong Kong.

He further said that the process of judicial appointments should never be politicized and that he is glad to see the Legislative Council has adopted a procedure for endorsing judicial appointments that ensures that while enabling it to discharge its duty, the process is not politicized with particular reference to appointment of his successor.

He went on to say that the Hong Kong system involves checks and balances between the executive, legislative and the judiciary.

Also, Li noted the increasing number of judicial review cases brought to the courts, with 147 cases in 2008 and 144 cases last year. But he made it clear that the court's role is only to define the limits of legality. As to the solutions of political, social and economic problems, these can only be found through the political process, he advised.

He said almost half of the judicial review cases in 2008 and 2009 were refused at the initial leave stage for lack of an "arguable case" - a new threshold set in November 2007.

"These figure provide food for thought and the community may consider it worthwhile to reflect on them," he commented.

(HK Edition 01/12/2010 page1)