The two judges’ resignation came after the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation on May 14 released a report with the title “Lending prestige to persecution: how foreign judges are undermining Hong Kong’s Freedoms and why they should quit.” Alistair Carmichael, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong, hosted the report launch. It called on the Congress to pass the Hong Kong Judicial Sanctions Act, which was introduced by several US Representatives to hold Hong Kong officials accountable for human rights violations. In March 2022, serving UK Supreme Court justices Robert Reed and Patrick Hodge resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court under pressure from the British government. In July 2023, last Hong Kong governor Chris Patten called for the withdrawal of British judges from Hong Kong’s top court. Chan Chak-ming, president of the Law Society of Hong Kong, said the society supports keeping overseas non-permanent judges in Hong Kong, as stated in the Basic Law.
