【Newspaper】Judge Kimberly of the Court of First Instance of the High Court aroused great controversy when he tried a case in October last year. He released a suspect in a drug case. The Department of Justice successfully appealed this Monday (14th) and the case was ordered by the Final Court to remand Retrial, but the foreign defendant has left Hong Kong. It is reported that Kimberly has resigned from the judiciary following the case. The judiciary confirmed to this newspaper yesterday that Kimberly had submitted his resignation to Chief Justice Zhang Juneng in August this year, because it is still one year before resignation It is expected that she will officially leave her post in August next year.
A one-year notice period is expected to resign in August next year
The Judiciary said Judge Kimberly had previously elected to extend the retirement age to 70. In addition, according to the Pension Benefits (Judicial Officers) Ordinance, judges of the High Court who are subject to the arrangement of extending the retirement age may retire voluntarily following reaching the age of 65. In accordance with relevant regulations, Kimberly notified the Chief Justice of the Final Court in early August this year, and will retire early next August.
Kimberly was accused of a controversial verdict involving a foreign man suspected of drug trafficking. When the defendant arrived in Hong Kong three years ago, the customs seized cocaine with a market value of nearly 5 million yuan and was charged with drug trafficking. However, when the case was being tried in the Court of First Instance, Kimberly suddenly requested to use the method of “judgment voir dire” to deal with the conversations on the phone program WhatsApp that both the prosecution and the defense agreed to present in court, and ruled that the conversations might not be presented in court. The defendant’s application for a permanent termination of the hearing was accepted. The Department of Justice immediately stated that it would appeal to the Final Court, but Kimberley still insisted on allowing the defendant to leave Hong Kong while waiting for the appeal, and the defendant finally flew away. As of this Monday, the Court of Final Appeal issued a verdict, ruling that the Department of Justice’s appeal was allowed, and pointing out that Kimberly had violated the functions of the jury and that it was a mistake not to present the conversation in court. The court may issue a warrant of arrest.
Justice Kimberly was born in England in 1956. In 1982 and 1986, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the Open University of the United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Reading respectively. In 1990, she obtained a Master of Laws degree from King’s College London, UK. She was called to the bar in England and Wales in 1987 and Hong Kong in 2000, and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2013. She was in private practice from 1988 to 2015. She has been appointed as a Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court since April 2015. He was officially appointed as a judge of the Court of First Instance until May 2016.
