Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong

Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong

Incumbent
Andrew Cheung
since 2011
Style The Honourable
Appointer Chief Executive of Hong Kong with endorsement by the Legislative Council
Term length Life tenure (until statutory retirement at age 65)
Inaugural holder Patrick Chan Siu-oi, 1997
Formation Hong Kong Basic Law
1 July 1997
Politics and government
of Hong Kong
Foreign relations

Related topics

Hong Kong portal

The Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong (CJHC) is the head of the High Court of Hong Kong and the President of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong. In the Hong Kong order of precedence, the Chief Judge acts as the second most senior administrative judge for the courts system, second only to the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong;[1] the position is the broad equivalent of the Master of the Rolls in the courts system of England and Wales.

The first Chief Judge was Patrick Chan Siu-oi. The 4th and incumbent Chief Judge is Andrew Cheung.

High Court of Hong Kong structure

The Chief Judge heads the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Chinese: 香港特別行政區高等法院), which deals with criminal and civil cases that have risen beyond the lower courts. While the High Court consists of the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance, the Chief Judge himself only presides over important appellate cases, usually together with two other Justices of Appeal.[2]

Pursuant to Article 88 of the Basic Law and the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission Ordinance (Cap. 92), judges of the courts of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission (JORC). In addition, Article 90 of the Basic Law provides that in the case of the appointment of the Chief Judge of the High Court, the Chief Executive shall obtain the endorsement of the Legislative Council.

Roles and Duties of the Chief Judge

The Chief Judge of the High Court is the Court Leader of the High Court and the President of the Court of Appeal. He is responsible for the administration of the High Court and is accountable to the Chief Justice. He is responsible for ensuring the 'efficient utilisation of judicial resources and court time, and for advising the Chief Justice on matters of policy concerning the operation and development of the High Court'.[3] He has statutory powers and duties under various Ordinances. These include the Legal Practitioners Ordinance under which he has the power to admit barristers and solicitors. He is responsible for the implementation of Civil Justice Reform and the monitoring of the working of the reformed system.

Chief Judges of the High Court

Andrew Cheung, incumbent Chief Judge of the High Court

The judges who have held the position of Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong to date are:

Name Tenure
Patrick Chan 1997–2000
Arthur Leong Siu-chung 2000–2003
Geoffrey Ma 2003–2010
Andrew Cheung 2011–

For pre-1997 Chief Justices, see: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong

See also


References

  1. ↑ "Department of Justice: Bilingual Laws Information System". www.legislation.gov.hk. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  2. ↑ "About Us - List of Judges and Judicial Officers". www.judiciary.gov.hk. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  3. ↑ "Judicial Officers Recommendation Commissions Report 1997-2002" (PDF).
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