Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the rule of law in Hong Kong.

China has continued to use the National Security Law (NSL) and its related institutions to undermine rights and freedoms in Hong Kong. As NSL cases proceed through the Courts, we are seeing the implications of this sweeping legislation, including the chilling effect on the rule of law; freedom of expression; stifling of opposition voices and criminalising dissent.

It was against this backdrop that the President of the Supreme Court, in consultation with the former Foreign Secretary and former Deputy Prime Minister, decided that it was no longer tenable for serving UK judges to sit on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.