Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal

The Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal are full-time judges sitting on Hong Kong's final appellate court, the Court of Final Appeal. They are called Permanent Judges because they are required to sit on every appeal committee and court case relating to the Court of Final Appeal, and to distinguish them from other part-time jurists who also sit on the top court, known as Non-Permanent Judges.

History At the founding of the court on 1 July 1997, as the Permanent Judges were all sworn in on the same day, they were sorted by seniority (whichever year they took Silk). The Chief Justice sat in the middle; Henry Litton, being the most senior judge and would sit on the Chief Justice's right, with Charles Ching being the second most senior judge (sitting on the Chief Justice's left) and Kemal Bokhary being the least senior Permanent Judge, sitting on the right of Henry Litton.

Eligibility According to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance, Permanent Judges are recommended by the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission, and officially appointed by the Chief Executive. People may be eligible to become a Permanent Judge by being the Chief Judge of the High Court, a High Court judge, or practiced as a barrister or solicitor in Hong Kong for over 10 years.

In practice, every Permanent Judge appointed has been at least a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal or above (Vice-President, Chief Judge, or Non-Permanent Judge); no practicing barrister has ever been appointed directly as a Permanent Judge without full time judicial experience.

Length of service Permanent Judges are required to retire by age 70, but this can be extended by up to two three-year terms, so final retirement age may be 76. This came into effect in late 2019, whereas previously the retirement age was 65 (from 1997 to late 2019), also with two three-year extensions possible for a final retirement age of 71.

List of Permanent Judges There are to be at least three Permanent Judges on the top court at any given time, with the current Judges in bold in the list below. No.NamePlace of birthAge at startReplacingTook officeLeft officeTenure lengthPrevious judicial officesHigher educationNationality (if known)SilkAppointed by1Henry Denis Litton, GBM(Born ; age )Hong KongInaugural1 July 199713 September 2000Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (1992–95)Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (1995–97)University of Oxford (MA)BritishQC (1970)Tung Chee-hwa2Charles Arthur Ching, GBM( – 30 November 2000; aged )Hong KongInaugural1 July 19976 October 2000Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (1995–97)University of Oxford (MA)AustralianQC (1974)3Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary, GBM(Born ; age )Hong KongInaugural1 July 199724 October 2012Judge of the High Court of Justice (1989–93)Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (1993–97)City Law SchoolBritishQC (1983)4Patrick Chan Siu-oi, GBM(Born ; age )Hong KongLitton1 September 200020 October 2013District Judge (1987–91)Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court (1991–92)Judge of the High Court of Justice (1992–97)Chief Judge of the High Court (1997–2000)University of Hong Kong (LLB, PCLL)Hong Kong5Roberto Alexandre Vieira Ribeiro, GBM(Born ; age )Hong KongChing1 September 2000IncumbentRecorder of the Court of First Instance (1997–99)Judge of the Court of First Instance (1999–2000)Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (2000)London School of Economics (LLB, LLM)BritishQC (1990)6Robert Tang Kwok-ching, GBM, SBS(Born ; age )Shanghai, ChinaBokhary25 October 201224 October 2018Deputy District Judge (1982)Deputy High Court Judge (1986)Recorder of the High Court of Justice/Court of First Instance (1995–2004)Judge of the Court of First Instance (2004–05)Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (2005–06)Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (2006–12)Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal (2010–12)University of Birmingham (LLB)BritishQC (1986)Leung Chun-ying7Joseph Paul Fok(Born ; age )Hong KongChan21 October 2013IncumbentRecorder of the Court of First Instance (2003–09)Judge of the Court of First Instance (2010–11)Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (2011–13)University College London (LLB)City Law SchoolBritishSC (1999)8Andrew Cheung Kui-nung, GBM(Born ; age )Hong KongTang25 October 201810 January 2021 District Judge (2001–03)Deputy High Court Judge (2001–03)Judge of the Court of First Instance (2003–11)Chief Judge of the High Court (2011–18)University of Hong Kong (LLB, PCLL)Harvard Law School (LLM)Hong KongCarrie Lam9Johnson Lam Man-hon(Born August 1961; age )Hong Kong59 years and 11 months (exact birth date not known)Cheung30 July 2021IncumbentDistrict Judge (2001–03)Judge of the Court of First Instance (2003–12)Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (2012–13)Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (2013–21)University of Hong Kong (LLB, PCLL)

Education

By PCLL Note: A PCLL is separate from a graduate degree, commonly known as the LLM or BCL

University of Hong Kong (3) – Chan, Cheung, Lam

By graduate degree London School of Economics (1) – Ribeiro Harvard University (1) – Cheung

By undergraduate degree

University of Hong Kong (3) – Chan, Cheung, Lam University of Oxford (2) – Litton, Ching London School of Economics (1) – Ribeiro University of Birmingham (1) – Tang University College London (1) – Fok

Length of tenure RankJusticeLength served (in days)1Roberto Ribeiro (incumbent, continuing)2Kemal Bokhary3Patrick Chan4Joseph Fok (incumbent, continuing)5Robert Tang6Johnson Lam (incumbent, continuing)7Charles Ching8Henry Litton9Andrew Cheung

See also

Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong) Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal

References