Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong

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.

Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong
Emblem of Hong Kong
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Chief Executive of Hong Kong with endorsement by the Legislative Council
Term length	Life tenure (until statutory retirement at age 70, but may be extended by 5 years until age 75)
Inaugural holder	Patrick Chan Siu-oi, 1997
Formation	Hong Kong Basic Law 1 July 1997

Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong
Traditional Chinese	香港高等法院首席法官
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Hēung góng gōu dáng faat yuhn sáu jihk faat gūn Jyutping Hoeng1 gong2 gou1 dang2 faat3 jyun6 sau2 zik6 faat3 gun1

Jeremy Poon is the 5th and current Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong, having taken up the post in December 2019.[2]

Background

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 generally only presides over appellate cases in the Court of Appeal, usually together with two other Justices of Appeal.[3] The Chief Judge also sits alone in the Court of First Instance to hear contested applications for the ad hoc admission of overseas counsel to the Hong Kong Bar.[4][5]

In accordance with the Basic Law, the Chief Judge is appointed by the Chief Executive based on the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission (JORC), and made official after receiving approval from the Legislative Council.

Duties of the Chief Judge

The Chief Judge is the Court Leader of the High Court and the President of the Court of Appeal, and is responsible for ensuring the 'efficient utilisation of judicial resources and court time, for advising the Chief Justice on matters of policy concerning the operation and development of the High Court'.[6]

From a judicial stand point, the role of the Chief Judge is equivalent to a Justice of Appeal, but comes with significant administrative responsibilities.[7] This may lead to justices turning down the appointment; for example, after Andrew Cheung's promotion to the Court of Final Appeal, it was reported that the Chief Justice originally asked Johnson Lam to be Chief Judge. However, citing the increase in administrative responsibilities, he turned down this role, which ultimately went to Jeremy Poon.[8] Geoffrey Ma, when he was Chief Judge, stated that he spent "less than 50% of his time in court" as most of his time was consumed over administrative issues.[9]

The Chief Judge has the power to admit barristers and solicitors and for implementing Civil Justice Reform. Given the experience of balancing hearing appeals and administrative responsibilities, they are often seen as prime candidates for elevation to the role of Chief Justice.

Acting Chief Judge

During a period of absence, an Acting Chief Judge of the High Court (Chinese: 高等法院署理首席法官) is appointed 'until the vacancy therein is filled'.[10] In general, a Vice-President of the Court of Appeal is appointed as Acting Chief Judge of the High Court, while a Justice of Appeal may also be appointed during this period if necessary.[11][12][13]

Chief Judges of the High Court

№	Name	Took office	Left office	Tenure length	Higher education	Previous judicial roles	Reason for tenure end	Inner bar	Appointed by
1	Patrick Chan Siu-oi, GBM 陳兆愷 (born 1948; age 72)	1 July 1997	31 August 2000	3 years and 62 days	University of Hong Kong (LLB, PCLL)	District Judge (1987–91) Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court (1991–92) Judge of the High Court of Justice (1992–97)	Appointed as 4th Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal (retired)		Tung Chee-hwa
2	Arthur Leong Siu-chung, GBS 梁紹中 (1936–2010; aged 74)	1 January 2001	13 July 2003	2 years and 194 days	City Law School	District Judge (1982–91) Judge of the High Court of Justice (1991–97) Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (1997–2000)	Retired
3	Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, GBM 馬道立 (born 1956; age 65)	14 July 2003	31 August 2010	7 years and 49 days	University of Birmingham (LLB) University of Law	Recorder of the Court of First Instance (2000–01) Judge of the Court of First Instance (2001–02) Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (2002–03)	Appointed as 2nd Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal (retired)	QC (1993)
4	Andrew Cheung Kui-nung 張舉能 (born 1961; age 59)	20 June 2011	24 October 2018	7 years and 127 days	University of Hong Kong (LLB, PCLL) Harvard Law School (LLM)	District Judge (2001–03) Deputy High Court Judge (2001–03) Judge of the Court of First Instance (2003–11)	Appointed as 8th Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal (Later 3rd Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal)		Donald Tsang
5	Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor 潘兆初 (born 1962; age 59)	18 December 2019	Incumbent	1 year and 54 days	University of Hong Kong (LLB, PCLL) University College London (LLM)	Permanent Magistrate (1993–99) Deputy Registrar of the High Court (1999–2006) Judge of the Court of First Instance (2006–15) Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (2015–19)			Carrie Lam

For pre-1997 Chief Justices (equivalent to the present day Chief Judge), see Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong

See also

• High Court of Hong Kong
• Court of Appeal of Hong Kong
• Court of First Instance of Hong Kong
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
• Vice-Presidents of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong
• Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong)
• Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong
• Legal system of Hong Kong

References

1. "Department of Justice: Bilingual Laws Information System". www.legislation.gov.hk. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
2. "Appointment of the Chief Judge of the High Court". www.info.gov.hk.
3. "About Us - List of Judges and Judicial Officers". www.judiciary.gov.hk. Archived from the original on 23 January 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
4. For example, Re Paul Girolami QC, HCMP 3567/2016, reported at [2017] 1 HKLRD 1226
5. "Bar Association fights appointment of British lawyer in Kwoks case".
6. "Judicial Officers Recommendation Commissions Report 1997-2002" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2010.
7. "Andrew Cheung named as new chief judge".
8. "潘兆初將任高院首席法官".
9. "Alumnus profile: The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma". University of Birmingham.
10. High Court Ordinance (Cap. 4), Section 8
11. "G.N.8071" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 43 Vol. 22, 26 October 2018)
12. "Top judges cleared for appointment to Court of Final Appeal and High Court respectively". Government of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020. The office of CJHC became vacant on October 25, 2018 when the Honourable Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung, who was the CJHC immediately prior to that date, assumed office as PJ of the CFA and vacated the office of CJHC on the same date. To meet essential operational needs, the Honourable Mr Justice Wally Yeung Chun-kuen, Vice-President and Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, acted in the office of CJHC for the period from October 25, 2018 to July 31, 2019. With effect from August 1, 2019, Mr Justice Poon, Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, has been acting in the office of CJHC until the CJHC vacancy is substantively filled.
13. For example, HKSAR v Chan Chun Man, CACC 216/2017