SCMP columnist Alex Lo wrote: "At the moment, Australia, Britain, New Zealand and Canada – all with a common-law tradition – provide non-permanent judges for the top court."

He said: "However, the president of the British Supreme Court in London, Lord Reed of Allermuir, has already hinted that its judges might not serve in Hong Kong if the new security law undermined the city’s judicial independence."

The columnist said: "That would suit the leftists as well as some pro-establishment figures fine. They have long wanted a completely local Chinese judiciary. Having foreign judges was part of the guarantee of '50 years of no change' under the Basic Law and was intended to boost confidence in the independence of the local judiciary."

The columnist wrote the future of foreign judges in Hong Kong seems 'uncertain'.

"Quite simply, when the judiciaries and governments of their countries start questioning the viability of sending their top jurists to serve in Hong Kong while powerful local and mainland figures think they should have no role here in the first place, their days may be numbered," read the article.