Key members of Hong Kong’s legal community said Monday that the rule of law cannot be abused for political purposes. Protesters seeking an exception for civil disobedience and the city’s administration must both adhere to the law’s dictates, they said.
At the ceremonial opening of the legal year at Hong Kong’s City Hall, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma said that the “administration of justice by the courts is not, nor can it be, influenced in the slightest by extraneous factors such as politics or political considerations.”
“The courts and judges apply only the law,” said Ma.
Meanwhile, Hongkongers have “overwhelmingly” respected the rule of law before and after a nearly three-month long street protest, affirming the “pivotal position” of the rule of law in Hong Kong, Ma notes.
Between end-September to mid-December last year, pro-democracy supporters occupied major thoroughfares outside government offices and in commercial districts to demand “genuine universal suffrage” for the 2017 chief executive elections and the resignation of current Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying.
Protesters have called their pro-democracy activism the “Umbrella Movement” as opposed to a regime-changing “color revolution.” The demonstrations drew hundreds of thousands of supporters at their peak and remained largely peaceful and nonviolent.
