| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 14, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- ASIAN COVER STORY
Andrew Li, Chief Justice, Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong (int'l edition) THIS HAS BEEN A BAD YEAR FOR HONG KONG'S JUDICIARY. Andrew Li, the Chief Justice of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal, is one of the few to emerge from controversy with his reputation unsullied. Li, 50, ruled in January that the government was acting unconstitutionally by keeping China-born children of local parents from living in Hong Kong. Beijing denounced the decision, prompting a crisis that undermined confidence in Hong Kong's legal system. Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's government said it would ask Beijing's rubber-stamp legislature to nullify Li's decision. That Li was willing to withstand the pressure came as no surprise to those who know him. A member of one of Hong Kong's elite families, he had served in former Governor Chris Patten's Cabinet and was a top Hong Kong barrister. He maintains good ties with local lawyers, who admire a courtroom civility that distinguishes him from haughtier colleagues. ''He always allows counsel to finish his point before demolishing it,'' says Ronny Tong, chairman of the Bar Association, who calls Li ''a role model for all judges.'' With an angry government challenging him, Li will need all the goodwill he can get. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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