Henry LittonRetired judge Henry Litton criticized High Court judges for their handling of applications by the city's first national security law defendant, saying the court failed to fulfill its constitutional function of judging clearly so that an ordinary citizen can understand. In an opinion piece in The Standard, the former Court of Final Appeal judge accused the judges of devoting time and space to discussing the defense counsel's challenges over the constitutionality of the security law instead of rejecting them outright. Litton criticized the judgment given by High Court judges Anderson Chow Ka-ming and Alex Lee Wan-tang when they rejected Tong Ying-kit's application for a writ of habeas corpus on August 21. Litton said the High Court justices should have ended the judgment with the above discussion, quoting the justices as saying the discussions are sufficient to reject Tong's application. Litton said legal counsel was seeking to impeach national laws in the regional courts yet the High Court did not discharge its prime constitutional responsibility and "nip the mischief in the bud."

Source: The Standard October 04, 2020 19:07 UTC