http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCM...000360a0a0aRCRD&ss=Hong+Kong&s=NewsSeparation anxiety
Asia's democratic progress is being undermined by the political manipulation of its judiciaries
Philip Bowring
Jan 23, 2009
The clear signal from Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang that the judiciary must keep itself at arm's length from the executive could not have come at a more appropriate time. Look around Asia and all too often one sees that the huge progress made towards liberal democracy is being undermined by use of the judiciary for political ends, eroding democracy directly or via loss of people's faith in the wider system of government.
The separation of judicial and executive power lies at the heart of our system, enshrined in the Basic Law. Without it, any progress Hong Kong makes towards universal and equal suffrage will be worthless. Defending it will require extreme vigilance; first, because it is anathema to a mainland system that acknowledges only one source of ultimate power - the party - which often requires judicial (not to mention police) decisions to be made in accordance with the party's overriding needs, rather than the specifics of a case (hence the suppression of media reports of corruption in high places). Second, because it is contrary to the interests of a self-aggrandising Hong Kong bureaucracy whose tentacles are reaching further and further into the economic structure......
Meanwhile, Singapore boasts a clean judiciary but one whose proclaimed independence from political pressures is regarded as a bad joke by many, not just the opposition politicians who have suffered from Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's libel suits.
There are three lessons for the judiciary: the first is that separation from the executive is critical; second, that it must refrain from seeing itself as a maker rather than interpreter of laws; and, third, it must avoid identification with any particular political or economic interest group.
Asia's democratic progress is being undermined by the political manipulation of its judiciaries
Philip Bowring
Jan 23, 2009
The clear signal from Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang that the judiciary must keep itself at arm's length from the executive could not have come at a more appropriate time. Look around Asia and all too often one sees that the huge progress made towards liberal democracy is being undermined by use of the judiciary for political ends, eroding democracy directly or via loss of people's faith in the wider system of government.
The separation of judicial and executive power lies at the heart of our system, enshrined in the Basic Law. Without it, any progress Hong Kong makes towards universal and equal suffrage will be worthless. Defending it will require extreme vigilance; first, because it is anathema to a mainland system that acknowledges only one source of ultimate power - the party - which often requires judicial (not to mention police) decisions to be made in accordance with the party's overriding needs, rather than the specifics of a case (hence the suppression of media reports of corruption in high places). Second, because it is contrary to the interests of a self-aggrandising Hong Kong bureaucracy whose tentacles are reaching further and further into the economic structure......
Meanwhile, Singapore boasts a clean judiciary but one whose proclaimed independence from political pressures is regarded as a bad joke by many, not just the opposition politicians who have suffered from Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's libel suits.
There are three lessons for the judiciary: the first is that separation from the executive is critical; second, that it must refrain from seeing itself as a maker rather than interpreter of laws; and, third, it must avoid identification with any particular political or economic interest group.
