Today was a highly proactive day for Hong Kong. We submitted our recommendations for the "Hong Kong Five-Year Plan and Policy Address 2026" with the Chief Executive, and exchanged views with Secretary for Justice Lam Ting-kwok, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Tse Siu-wah, and Chief Executive's Policy Unit Chief Executive Wong Yuen-shan. We emphasized that in the face of global political and economic changes, Hong Kong's governance must shift from static planning of "listing projects" to dynamic governance of "setting direction, establishing systems, and promoting implementation," leveraging Hong Kong's potential as a "super value-added force" in areas such as international education, low-Track economy, and digital currency.
We subsequently held a press conference to formally release the special report, "Establishing a Professional Judge System." Faced with structural problems such as a waiting time of up to 337 days for criminal cases in the District Courts and a judicial vacancy rate of 24.2%, we proposed establishing a training pathway for "professional judges" to expand the judicial talent pool from the outset. At the same time, we emphasized the need for a strict distinction between "training" and "appointment," with final appointments still subject to independent oversight by the Judicial Officers Recommendation Committee to ensure that Hong Kong's proud judicial independence remains unshaken.
