Pro-separatist HK magistrate’s new post ‘result of biased remarks in court’

A Hong Kong magistrate with a pro-separatist stance will move to a new position in the local high court, a decision that has raised public concerns as experts said that a magistrate needs to at least be neutral on politics as this is a basic norm for judges to ensure impartiality.

Ho Chun-yiu, a magistrate at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), will be moved to a new post as the Criminal Listing Judge at the city’s High Court, dedicated to handling the scheduling of criminal cases in the Court of First Instance, Hong Kong media reported on Monday.

The re-assignment, which indicates that Ho will no longer be present at trials, came after he sparked widespread controversy over his lenient rulings in several anti-government protest cases last June, as well as his remarks that favor radical separatist group Demosisto.

“Although the Hong Kong judiciary did not specify the reason for his reappointment, one of the most crucial factors is his remarks with a clear preference toward local infamous separatists,” Lawrence Tang Fei, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.

“By giving credit to separatist activists with an anti-government stance and behavior during their trials, the public will worry that he has failed to perform his duties in an impartial manner, which is a quality that people most expect in the judicial system,” Tang said.

Ho’s new post means he will be in charge of arranging cases for trial. The Court of First Instance, where Ho was appointed, deals with the most serious criminal offenses.