The president of the U.K.’s Supreme Court, Lord Reed, has indicated that a decision is imminent on whether to continue to sit on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal.

Lord Reed is one of 10 British judges on the bench of Hong Kong’s top court. He has been a non-permanent judge in Hong Kong since 2017.

British shadow ministers have said the judges should quit the Hong Kong court, The Times of London reported. Lord Reed has been in close contact with the British foreign secretary and lord chancellor on matters for some time, and is reviewing with them the operation of the agreement, a statement from the Supreme Court read.

After the enactment of the national security law in Hong Kong last July, Reed said the new law “contains a number of provisions which give rise to concerns” and its effect would depend upon how it is applied.

The Supreme Court supports Hong Kong judges “in their commitment to safeguard judicial independence and the rule of law,” and would continue to assess the situation, he said at the time.

Meanwhile, exiled Hong Kong activist Sunny Cheung said he told Helena Kennedy, director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, at a panel discussion that the U.K. and other common law countries should stop sending judges to Hong Kong, so as not to assist the regime’s infringements on human rights and the rule of law.

Cheung also urged judges to reject appointments by the Hong Kong government and to delist Hong Kong from the Rule of Law Index.

The panel discussion occurred at the same time as the regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The council has little power and is manipulated by China’s allies, but it should do its best to support political prisoners suppressed by the Hong Kong government, Cheung said.

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