A Hong Kong judge on Thursday concluded a day of proceedings in a trial he was presiding over with a speech decrying the extent to which he and his colleagues were harassed, capping it off with a stern warning to anyone who interfered with the operations of the judiciary.

Speaking from the bench, where he had been hearing a case stemming from the 2019 anti-government protests, judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi of the District Court said he had been receiving many nuisance phone calls and faxes of late, and that other judges had found themselves with the same problem.

“Heaven is watching whoever is doing it,” Chan said, condemning the irritating tactics without elaborating on the content of the calls and messages.

Judge Stanley Chan, of the District Court.

Warning that the harassment could amount to a string of offences, including contempt of court, Chan urged law enforcement to “step up” their game and bring the perpetrators to justice.

He also called on lawyers, legal scholars and “right-minded people” to speak up for the judiciary.

“Regardless of what side of the political spectrum you belong to, [such acts] are bound to undermine the judicial system,” he said.

“Undermining a system is simple. But building a successful system is going to take the effort of many generations.”

The city’s judges have found themselves in the hot seat of late as a host of politically charged cases – including ones related to the 2019 protests – have come before the courts.

Chan is also one of a handful of judicial officers picked by the city’s leader to hear cases stemming from a sweeping national security law imposed on the city by Beijing last year.

Chan on Thursday was presiding over a case involving three men charged with rioting over a procession in Admiralty on September 29, 2019. He stressed that his impromptu observation on harassment would have no bearing on the outcome of the trial.

Later in the day, the Department of Justice issued a statement noting that judicial independence was guaranteed under Article 85 of the Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution, and warning that anyone who harassed or personally attacked a judge would face the consequences.

“If there is any attempt to exert influence over court proceedings through despicable means, the HKSAR [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] government will spare no effort in bringing the culprit to justice in order to safeguard the due administration of the judicial process and public peace,” the statement said.

A spokesman for the judiciary said it was “highly concerned” about the harassment, and that “any attempt to apply undue pressure on judges or staff of the judiciary should be condemned severely”.

A police spokesman on Thursday said they had received a report from a judicial officer on June 10 regarding harassing calls, and that the Wan Chai district crime squad was investigating. A police source said the calls started around mid-May.

As doxxing attacks against judges ramped up last year, the Department of Justice applied for an injunction in October to combat malicious attempts to expose their personal data, as well as threats and intimidation against them.

The Law Society and Bar Association, the regulating bodies for the city’s solicitors and barristers respectively, have also warned repeatedly against attacks on judges.

In December last year, Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak, one of six magistrates hand-picked to adjudicate national security proceedings, received a bomb threat after remanding media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in custody over a fraud case.

In May this year, judge Amanda Woodcock of the District Court received three phone calls containing intimidating and insulting messages directed at her and her family after she sentenced Lai and nine other activists to up to 18 months in jail for an unlawful rally in 2019.