JOYCE NGjoyce.ng@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Monday, 21 September, 2015, 12:02am
UPDATED : Monday, 21 September, 2015, 4:40am
Asked to respond to a Beijing official's assertion that the chief executive had a "transcendent" status above the judiciary and legislature, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li gave a crisp reply.
He cited four articles of the Basic Law to plainly state that the city's mini-constitution guaranteed the independence of the judiciary and that everyone was equal before the law. He declined to comment further.
While the media characterised Ma's remarks as the city's top judge "crossing swords" with the official behind the transcendence theory, Beijing's man in Hong Kong Zhang Xiaoming , antagonism towards local or central governments has never been Ma's style. Instead, Ma has been perceived as a relatively conservative judge since he succeeded Andrew Li Kwok-nang in 2010.
READ MORE: Zhang Xiaoming’s controversial speech on Hong Kong governance: The full text
Born in Hong Kong in 1956, Ma studied law at Birmingham University in England. He was admitted to the Hong Kong Bar in 1980, focusing on commercial cases.
Ronny Tong Ka-wah SC, who is stepping down as a pan-democratic lawmaker, says it was he who helped Ma start his career in Hong Kong. "His brother and I were friends at Oxford University. I introduced Ma to the Temple Chambers where I work."
Geoffrey Ma enters his new home in Central. Photo: Sam Tsang
Tong described Ma as a "fair counsel" back in those days: "He always delivered his points fairly and squarely. He's not that kind of what we call 'sharp' lawyer who will stop at nothing to win a case. The judges held him in high regard."
Work aside, Tong described Ma as a person of "cheerful" character and a "good golf companion". Ma is married to Madam Justice Maria Yuen Ka-ning, a Court of Appeal judge, with whom he has a daughter.
As a barrister, Ma was playing a pivotal role in shaping Hong Kong's new constitutional order - but the fact he represented the government in many cases gave rise to a perception he was pro-government.
In 1999, he represented the government in the landmark case brought by a mainland child with a Hong Kong father, who argued that the Basic Law gave such children immediate right of abode in the city.
The Court of Final Appeal ruled in the child's favour, but key parts of the ruling were effectively overturned by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, after the government controversially asked the national legislature's top body for an interpretation.
Beijing's move caused an outcry, with most in the legal profession seeing it as devastating to judicial independence.
Soon after, Ma was put on a fast-track to the top ranks of the judiciary, becoming chief judge of the High Court three years later in 2003.
Has he appeared more liberal since he took the helm as chief justice? Most lawyers the South China Morning Post spoke to declined to comment openly, and the views are mixed.
Some point to the speeches Ma gives at the start of each legal year as indicating he is more liberal than anticipated. Independence of the judiciary, rule of law and separation of powers are recurrent themes in the annual speeches, addressed to the legal profession and the public.
Liaison office chief Zhang Xiaoming, who kicked off the controversy on the separation of powers. Photo: SCMP Pictures
In this year's speech, made a month after the Occupy protests for democracy ended, Ma gave a different view from the government on the protesters, whose actions officials said were damaging to the rule of law.
"In my view, these recent events have demonstrated the respect that most people have for the rule of law and emphasised once again the pivotal position it occupies in our community. No one has seriously questioned the need for respect for the rule of law," he said.
The judge also emphasised the courts could not be "influenced in the slightest by extraneous factors such as politics or political considerations".
Ironically, while Ma emphasised separation of powers, his determination to stay away from politics frustrated pan-democratic politicians. A case in point was a judicial review mounted by lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung over Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing's decision to abruptly cut short a debate on a bill to restrict Legco by-elections, thus ending a filibuster attempt.
The top court cited the doctrine of separation of powers as it declared it would not intervene in the question of how the Legco chief exercised his powers.
Martin Lee Chu-ming SC, who was representing Leung, had argued that the court should feel comfortable to intervene because Legco was not fully democratically elected.
In other cases, human rights lawyer Mark Daly said the top court under Ma's leadership had made some "disappointing" decisions on human rights. He cited the refusal to grant foreign domestic helpers right of abode after seven years in the city and the refusal to allow refugees stranded in the city the right to work. Daly was solicitor for the individuals who brought the two cases against the government.
"There is a perception that the judiciary pays too much deference to the government," Daly said. "It's apparent the applicants are being queried by the judges. But not enough questions are asked of the government. That gives a perception that it's not equal."
"The court needs to be more interventionist," he added.
Mark Daly found some human rights rulings made by the top court disappointing. Photo: David Wong
While the ruling on foreign domestic helpers was disheartening to campaigners, Ma and his fellow judges did win some recognition in legal circles for resisting pressure from the government, which asked the court to seek an interpretation of the Basic Law from Beijing.
The request, rejected unanimously by the judges, was widely seen as a backhanded attempt to get Beijing to halt the flow of another group of unwanted migrants - children born in the city to mainland parents - while risking judicial independence.
A fortnight later, Ma set out his stance in a university talk: "If every time, let's say somebody - or the government - loses in the Court of Final Appeal, but then again goes off for an interpretation… there comes a point when some people may say 'that's just not on'".
Eric Cheung Tat-ming, principal law lecturer at the University of Hong Kong, did not see a stark difference between Ma's approach to constitutional matters and that of his predecessor.
"After all, in Andrew Li's time, the CFA judges were not very liberal either, except for a few vocal judges like Mr Justice [Kemal] Bokhary. It's more like a continuation," Cheung said.
Additional reporting by Chris Lau
Chief Justice, Geoffrey Ma Tao-li. Photo: Sam Tsang
Geoffrey Ma
Age: 59
Education: LLB, Birmingham University (1977)
Legal career: Called to English Bar in 1978; Called to Hong Kong Bar in 1980; Appointed Queen's Counsel in 1993; Recorder, Court of First Instance, 2000-2001; Judge, Court of First Instance, 2001-2002; Court of Appeal justice, 2002-2003; Chief judge of the High Court, 2003-2010; Chief justice, 2010-present
Honours: Grand Bauhinia Medal, 2012
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1859940/profile-hong-kong-chief-justice-geoffrey-ma-transcends
