A government statement has expressed "strong disagreements" over remarks made by a departing non-permanent judge of the top appeals court, Lord Jonathan Sumption, who wrote an opinion piece entitled "The rule of law in Hong Kong is in grave danger".

The overseas judge wrote in the Financial Times that his local counterparts were caught "in an impossible political environment created by China", and that the rule of law was "profoundly compromised in any area about which the government feels strongly".

He also mentioned a recent ruling on a landmark subversion trial, saying it was "symptomatic of a growing malaise in the Hong Kong judiciary".

A government spokesperson said there was "absolutely no truth" that Hong Kong's courts were "under any political pressure from the central authorities in the adjudication of national security cases, or that there is any decline in the rule of law in the SAR".

The spokesperson said anyone who suggested otherwise would be "utterly wrong, totally baseless, and must be righteously refuted", regardless of their reasoning or motives.

The statement went on to quote Chief Executive John Lee, who said the Hong Kong government "has never, and also will not allow anyone to interfere with the prosecutions of the Department of Justice and trials by the court".

"This is how it was in the past, how it is at present, and how it will be in future. The rule of law in Hong Kong is strong and will not change," Lee said.