Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The chief justice of Hong Kong was, until 1997, the chief judge (Chinese: 首席按察司, later 首席大法官) of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong and the most senior judge in the court system.

Supreme Court of Hong Kong

The

Supreme Court of Hong Kong existed from 1844 (before the establishment of the court (1841-1844), legal proceedings would likely have been undertaken by the British military courts and commanding officers) when British civilian control of Hong Kong commenced until 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to China. Only the last chief justice, Sir Ti-liang Yang, was Chinese by ethnicity (British subject, later a British Dependent Territory citizen); the remainder were all British or Irish, two of whom, Sir James Russell and Sir Joseph H. Kemp
, both Irishmen, spoke Chinese.

Renaming of Supreme Court and title in 1997

In 1997, the

High Court of Hong Kong. The position was accordingly changed to Chief Judge of the High Court, while the role of head of the Hong Kong Judiciary was assumed by the chief justice of the Court of Final Appeal. The Court of Final Appeal was established to replace the role of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
as Hong Kong's final appellate court.

List of pre-1997 chief justices

The following table lists former chief justices of the

High Court of Hong Kong
for a list of chief judges of the High Court.

Chief Justice Term of office Appointer Remarks
1 John Walter Hulme 1844–1860 Sir John Francis Davis First Chief Justice of Hong Kong in 1844. Practising barrister in England. Retired on a Pension.
2 William Henry Adams 1860–1865 Sir Hercules Robinson Appointed
Attorney General of Hong Kong
in 1859. Immediately acted as Chief Justice due to Hulme being on sick leave in 1859. Appointed to substantive position on Hulme's retirement. Died in office.
3 Sir John Jackson Smale 1866–1881 Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell
Attorney General of Hong Kong
from 1861 to 1866. Retired on a pension.
4
Sir George Phillippo
1882–1888 Malcolm Struan Tonnochy
Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1876 to 79. Chief Justice of Gibraltar
from 1879 to 1882. Retired on a pension.
5 Sir James Russell 1888–1892
Sir William Des Voeux
Puisne Judge
of Supreme Court of Hong Kong from 1883 to 1888. Retired due to ill health.
6 Sir Fielding Clarke 1892–1896
Sir William Robinson
Chief Judicial Commissioner, Western Pacific (1882 to 1883 and 1884), ()
Chief Justice of Jamaica
1896-1911.
7 Sir John Worrell Carrington 1896–1901 Solicitor General of Barbados and acted as Attorney General (1878-1881), Chief Justice of St. Lucia and Tobago (1882-1889), Administered the Government of Tobago (1883-1885), Acting Chief Justice of Grenada (1886), Attorney General British Guiana (1889-1896). Retired from Hong Kong on a pension.
8
Sir William Meigh Goodman
1902–1905 Sir Henry Arthur Blake
Attorney General of Hong Kong
from 1889 to 1902. Former solicitor General of Barbados in 1878 to 1882, Chief Justice of St Lucia and Tobago 1882 to 1889 and Administrator of Tobago from 1883 to 1885. Retired due to ill health.
9
Sir Francis Piggott
1905–1912
Sir Matthew Nathan
Procureur-General of Mauritius 1893-1904 prior to appointment. Compulsorily retired. Commenced practice as junior counsel at bar in Hong Kong 1912-1914.
10 Sir William Rees-Davies 1912–1924 Claud Severn
Attorney General of Hong Kong
from 1907 to 1912. Retired on a pension.
11 Sir Henry Gollan 1924–1930
Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs
Chief Justice of Bermuda (1904-1911),
Attorney General of Ceylon
(1918-1924) prior to appointment. Member of the Full Court of the British Supreme Court for China in Shanghai 1926-1930. Retired on a pension in 1930.
12 Sir Joseph H. Kemp 1930–1933 Thomas Southorn
Attorney General of Hong Kong
from 1915 to 1930. Retired on a pension.
13 Sir Atholl MacGregor 1934–1945 Sir William Peel Attorney General of Trinidad (1926-1929) and Kenya (1929-1933) prior to appointment. Interned in Stanley Internment Camp, WWII. Died immediately after war en route to England.
14 Sir Henry Blackall 1946–1948 Sir Mark Young Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago (1943-1946) prior to appointment. Later was appointed President of the West African Court of Appeals (1948-1951).
15
Sir Leslie Gibson
1948–1951
Sir Alexander Grantham
Attorney General of Trinidad (1940-1944), Attorney General of
Foreign Office
.
16 Sir Gerard Howe 1951–1955 Solicitor General in Nigeria (1941-1946), Attorney General of Nigeria (1946-1950) prior to appointment. Died in office.
17 Sir Michael Hogan 1955–1970 Attorney General in Aden (1944-1945), Attorney General of Malaya (1950-1955) prior to appointment. Picture shows Hogan at opening of 1967 Assizes.
18 Sir Ivo Rigby 1970–1973 Sir David C.C. Trench Senior
Puisne Judge
, Hong Kong, 1961-1970. Picture shows Rigby heading parade at opening of 1970 Assizes
19 Sir Geoffrey Briggs 1973–1978 Sir Murray MacLehose
Puisne Judge
, Hong Kong 1965-1973.
20 Sir Denys Roberts 1979–1988
Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1966 to 1973. Colonial/Chief Secretary
from 1973 to 1979.
21 Sir Ti-liang Yang 1988–1996 Sir David Wilson First Chinese Chief Justice. Resigned to contest position of Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
Sir Noel Power 1996–1997
Acting
Chris Patten Acting CJ pending
Supreme Court of Hong Kong. Later Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court (1997-1999), Justice of the Court of Appeal of Brunei Darussalam
(2003-2007) and as President (2007-2009).

See also

References