Hong Kong Bar chair warns judicial pay gap threatens legal hub status
José Antonio Maurellet SC, chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, says a persistent judicial shortage caused by a gap between private and public pay risks damaging the city's role as a leading financial centre. He calls for investment in the judiciary to sustain its soft power and competitivenes
José Antonio Maurellet SC, chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, has warned that a persistent and serious judicial shortage is harming the city's status as a leading international financial centre. Writing in a column after returning from the International Bar Association conference in Copenhagen, he stressed the importance of Hong Kong lawyers learning from other members of the common law family, particularly on judicial independence and independent legal professions.
Mr Maurellet noted that Hong Kong has benefited from resolving many complex and high-value disputes, and that the rise of arbitration has increased court cases related to those arbitrations. He described legal services as a huge boon for the city, employing many people, paying significant taxes and helping the trade balance. He added that the sector also provides soft power, which is important for Hong Kong to play its role as a super connector.
However, he argued that the persistent judicial shortage has knock-on effects despite good steps already taken by the judiciary. Unlike civil servants who often join upon graduation, Hong Kong's senior judges are drawn from top practitioners at the apex of their careers. Mr Maurellet said the serious gap between private and public remuneration needs to be narrowed rather than addressed by recruiting fresh graduates, which he described as unorthodox and likely to raise concerns among the general public and the international business community.
He also pointed out that recruiting fresh graduates would face the same problem, as able young lawyers would need attractive conditions given that packages for lawyers in their early 30s can exceed a few million dollars. The solution, he said, is clear: Hong Kong needs to invest in its judiciary, both in software and hardware, as soon as possible. 'How we choose to spend public resources ultimately reflects what sort of society we are and wish to be,' he wrote.