Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the British Consulate in Hong Kong is monitoring and assessing (1) resignations from, (2) appointments to, and (3) moves of members within, the judiciary in Hong Kong; what assessment they have made, if any, of the desirability of members of the British judiciary being seconded to serve in the courts of the region to implement the provisions of the Hong Kong national security law; and what criteria they use to make any such assessment.

Hong Kong's independent judiciary is a cornerstone of its economic success and way of life. As the Foreign Secretary said to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 6 October, judicial appointments to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal are made independently. The Foreign Secretary and the Lord Chancellor will continue their consultations with the Supreme Court, building on assessments from the Consulate-General in Hong Kong and others.