Think tank urges career judges to ease court backlog
HK01 · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
A Hong Kong policy think tank, Minds Policy Institute, has called for a new career-judge system to supplement the judiciary’s traditional recruitment model amid persistent manpower shortages and mounting case delays. It says the proposal would allow law graduates to enter a structured judicial training path while preserving Hong Kong’s common law system.
Key Points
- The institute said Hong Kong’s courts have faced rising caseloads and growing backlogs over the past decade, while judicial vacancies have climbed to 24.2 percent.
- In the District Court, the average wait for criminal cases from first appearance to trial rose from 118 days to 337 days, far above the 100-day target.
- The proposal would let law graduates apply directly for a career-judge track, creating an additional recruitment channel alongside the existing practice of appointing experienced lawyers.
- The article argues mid-career barristers and solicitors face steep opportunity costs in becoming judges, including pay cuts of about 40 to 60 percent and tighter social restrictions.
- It says Hong Kong now produces far more law graduates than in the past, but limited professional training places and difficult entry conditions mean some potential legal talent leaves the field.
Why It Matters
The proposal is framed as a practical response to court delays that affect businesses, defendants awaiting trial and members of the public seeking timely justice. It also argues that court efficiency has become a weak point in Hong Kong’s rule-of-law standing, citing a decline in the World Justice Project’s criminal justice score from 0.76 in 2012/13 to 0.68 in 2025, with the sharpest drop in timely and effective criminal adjudication.