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INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY PUNDAMENTAL TO A HEALTHY SOCIETY: CJ

IN

IN HONG KONG, JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE MANIFESTS ITSELF VARIOUS ASPECTS, THE MOST OBVIOUS OF WHICH IS FREEDOM FROM EXECUTIVE INTERFERENCE IN WHATEVER FORM. THEN THERE IS THE PROTECTION OF PERSON AND THE FAMILY OF THOSE WHO HOLD JUDICIAL. OFFICE. THIRDLY, THE PROTECTION OF THE OFFICE ITSELF. FOURTHLY, THE WILLINGNESS AND ABILITY OF THE FXECUTIVE TO CARRY OUT OR TO ASSIST IN CARRYING OUT THE COURT'S ORDERS, THE CHIEF JUSTICE, SIR TI LIANG YANG, SALD TODAY

(MONDAY).

UNDER OUR SYSTEM, THE JUDICIARY'S INDEPENDENCE IS IN THE MAIN PROTECTED IN THREE DIFFERENT BUT INTER-RELATED

WAYS. FIRST, A FREE AND INDEPENDENT MEDIA, MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR ENJOYMENT OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH GENERALLY, ACTS AS THE GUARDIAN AS WELL AS CRITIC OF THE COURTS. SECOND, A FREE AND INDEPENDENT LEGAL PROFESSION, IMBUED WITH OUR TRADITIONAL VALUES, ALSO PERFORMS A SIMILAR ROLE. THIRD, OUR GOVERNMENT SEES THE IMPORTANCE OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE AND CONDUCTS ITS BUSINESS ACCORDINGLY, THEREBY ENHANCING ITS OWN AUTHORITY AND CREDIBILITY, SIR TI LIANG SAID IN HIS ADDRESS AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE 1990 LEGAL YEAR HELD AT THE CITY HALL.

THE CHIEF JUSTICE SAID THAT IT WAS WITH THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE, IMPLEMENTED BY A GOVERNMENT WHICH WAS RESPONSIVE TO PUBLIC WILL, THAT JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE MAY TAKE ROOT AND FLOURISH.

"IT CANNOT BE STRESSED TOO STRONGLY THAT AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY IS FUNDAMENTAL TO A HEALTHY SOCIETY AND TO THE FREEDOM WE ENJOY. IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, HOWEVER, THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY MAY ONLY BE PRESERVED AND PROTECTED TO THE EXTENT THAT SOCIETY WANTS IT PRESERVED AND PROTECTED, HE EMPHASISED.

HAD NEITHER SHOULD SEEK

SIR TI LIANG EXPLAINED THAT THE JUDICIARY ITSELF EXECUTIVE, ECONOMIC, NOR MILITARY POWER. IF A GOVERNMENT TO INTERFERE WITH THE JUDICIARY, BY WHATEVER MEANS AT Ꭵ ᎢᎦ DISPOSAL, THE JUDICIARY'S ONLY WEAPON WITH WHICH ΤΟ RESIST SUCH INTERFERENCE WAS AS STRONG AND

WAS ITS MORAL AUTHORITY, AND EVEN THAT AUTHORITY PERVASIVE AS SOCIETY WAS PREPARED TO MAKE IT.

"ULTIMATELY, WE LOOK TO A GOVERNMENT WHICH UNDERSTANDS THE LONG-TERM BENEFIT OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCR AND 18 PREPARED ΤΟ EXERCISE RESTRAINT. EVEN MORE, WE LOOK TO THE PEOPLE WHO APPRECIATE AND CHERISH THIS VITAL PRINCIPLE AND INSIST THAT THE GOVERNMENT MUST REFRAIN FROM INTERFERENCE, RESPECT THE INTEGRITY OF

THE LEGAL AND JUDICIAL SYSTEM, AND ACCORD THE JUDICIARY EVERY CO-OPERATION AND PROTECTION," HE SAID.

IN THIS CONNECTION, SIR TI LIANG MENTIONED A NUMBER OF MEASURES AND PROPOSALS WHICH WERE ADOPTED LAST YEAR WITH A VIEW TO LAYING GREATER EMPHASIS ON THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF JUDICIAL

INDEPENDENCE, STATING THAT:

/(I)

JUDGES OF