The 2018 Supreme Court of Queensland Oration Criticism of the courts and judges: informed criticism and otherwise was presented by The Honourable Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma GBM, Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. The freedom of speech and of the press are proven precious rights, not only in Hong Kong but throughout common law jurisdictions. They benefit society and no one and no institution, especially public ones, should be exempt from either adverse comment or criticism. However, where the public interest is adversely affected, different considerations come into play. In the context of the courts, there has been a noticeable trend that criticism of the work of the courts and of judges has become much less restrained than before, even sometimes to the point of being personal and at times abusive. Ought we be able to brush such criticisms aside or can more be done to enable criticisms to be based on commentators being better informed? After all, one valid criticism of the law is that not enough is done to explain how the administration of justice works in practice. What does 'being better informed' actually mean and is relevant information about the courts readily available in the first place? These are questions that provoke a discussion about the rule of law itself, particularly in Hong Kong.
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