Henry Litton
Henry Litton CBE, GBM is a retired permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. Litton founded the Hong Kong Law Journal in 1971. In 2019, Litton published the book ‘Is the Hong Kong Judiciary Sleepwalking to 2047’ in which he criticised numerous aspects of Hong Kong’s legal system, focusing particularly on the misuse of judicial reviews in recent years.
Henry's recent articles
The case of the wolf and the sheep in Hong Kong
Recently, a correspondent on Australias national broadcaster casually referred to Hong Kong as a police state. This ignores that the courts operate under common law rules. The role of the judge is key. They are not mouth-pieces of the central government. In HKSAR v Lai Man-ling & 4 Others, Hong Kongs image overseas has been tarnished by a decision to convict people for writing a childrens book, a judgement which no one can understand and which was wrong.
A close run thing in Hong Kong in 2019.
What Hong Kong faced was an insurgency, the overthrow of the government, nothing less.
Tiananmen Square Massacre is a difficult story to handle
The event, when it occurred on 4 June,1989, aroused deep emotions in Hong Kong. It led to a mass street demonstration in which tens of thousands participated; many office workers left their desks to join in the march from Central to Victoria Park. It was entirely spontaneous and peaceful. Since then it has been commemorated by a candle-lit vigil in Victoria Park each year, until last year when it was banned.
Hong Kong: British common law labelled as Chinese oppression
On 16 April 2021, a Hong Kong District Court sentenced 8 prominent activists to imprisonment. They had been convicted of organizing an unlawful assembly, and taking part in such assembly, under the Public Order Ordinance. This was a statute of the longstanding, dating way back to colonial times in Hong Kong.
21st century democracy: blurring the lines
President Biden, at his first press conference, said this: Look, I predict to you, your children and grandchildren are going to be doing their doctoral thesis on the issue of who succeeded: autocracy or democracy? Because that is what is at stake, not just with China.
The true intent and spirit of the Sino-British Joint Declaration concerning Hong Kong.
On 12 March this year the G7 group of nations published a statement saying that Beijings proposal to change the electoral arrangements for Hong Kongs legislature ( LegCo ) was, among other things, a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration: the agreement signed 36 years ago to settle the question of Hong Kongs future, ending the era of colonial rule. Their accusation is driven, not by fact and logic, but by an underlying mindset fixed in the past; a mindset formed in the days of European imperialism that sees Hong Kong as a foreign concession within China.
Australia to welcome Hong Kong 'democrats': are they a proxy for others?
The Australian government has now welcomed Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders to settle in Australia, ahead of millions of desperate refugees fleeing wars and genocide. Such is the power of a label on general public and media gullibility.
An 'ugly plot' by the 'Democrats' in Hong Kong
The arrest of 53 persons on January 6-7 this year in Hong Kong on suspicion of subversion has, once again, raised a frenzy of condemnation by western leaders and the media.
What is meant by 'democracy' in Hong Kong.
Seeing the theatrics going on in the USA leads me to muse on Democracy and what it means in Hong Kong terms. Is there a template into which every model must fit, or is it a broad concept which encompasses not only its technical structure but also the values it seeks to uphold ?
For Hong Kongs sake, the judiciary must regain Beijings trust (SCMP Sep 3, 2020)
How did it come about that Beijing has developed such mistrust of the Hong Kong judiciary? The courts have put a slant on the Basic Law, by applying obscure norms and values from overseas which are totally unsuited to Hong Kongs circumstances.
Ignorance or malice on new security laws for Hong Kong?
The announcement made in May this year that Beijing would enact national security laws for Hong Kong aroused hysteria worldwide. One wonders whether this came from ignorance or malice.