Patrick Keane is one of only six overseas justices remaining on the bench since the introduction of draconian national security laws

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A speech by Australian judge Patrick Keane QC has been met by a vociferous protest over his continued presence on the bench of Hong Kong’s controversial court of final appeal.

A slew of foreign judges has quit the court, with one arguing the rule of law in Hong Kong has been “profoundly compromised” and that the city-state is “becoming a totalitarian state”.