Simon Li

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Dr the Honourable
Simon Li Fook-sean
GBM
李福善
Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
In office
1986–1986
Appointed bySir Edward Youde
Preceded byDenys Roberts
Succeeded byDenys Roberts
Personal details
Born(1922-04-19)19 April 1922
Hong Kong
Died26 February 2013(2013-02-26) (aged 90)
Hong Kong
SpouseMarie Veronica Lillian Yang
ChildrenSimon Li
Joseph Li
Gladys Li
Stephen Li
Paul Li
Alma materKing's College
University of Hong Kong
University College London
OccupationJudge

Simon Li Fook-sean GBM (Chinese: 李福善; 19 April 1922 – 26 February 2013) was a Hong Kong senior judge and politician.

Education and judiciary career

Li was educated at the

Doctor of Laws from the Chinese University of Hong Kong
conferred on him in 1986.

He returned to Hong Kong and became a crown counsel in Hong Kong's

Justice of Appeal in 1980. He was the first Chinese to be appointed to the Vice-President of the Court of Appeal in 1984.[2] In 1986 he became the first Hong Kong Chinese to act as Chief Justice for the then Chief Justice Denys Roberts. He retired in 1987 at the age of 64 as the colony's most senior Chinese judge.[1]

Politics

After the

Hong Kong Affairs Adviser, and deputy director of the preliminary working committee of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.[1]

In the

Y. K. Pao, and the eventual winner Tung Chee-hwa.[1] Li initially supported Lo Tak-shing for the Chief Executive race. After Lo withdrew, Li announced his own candidacy and became the last of the four to join the race.[3] Li failed to get enough nominations, receiving just 43 votes, and was eliminated in the election. Tung won a landslide victory in the election by the 400-member Selection Committee orchestrated by the Beijing government. In 1997, Li received Hong Kong's highest honour, the Grand Bauhinia Medal
.

Public services

Li also held numerous positions including the vice-chairperson of Fu Hong Society, honorary steward of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, director of his family owned Bank of East Asia, director of King's College Old Boys' Association School Board, director of Rev. Joseph Carra Education Fund, council member of the Society for Rehabilitation, honorary president of the Scout Association of Hong Kong, chairman of the Insurance Claims Complaints Board, and director and chairman of the Widow and Orphan Pension Board.

He also established the Mr Li Koon Chun Memorial Fund and the Dr Simon Li Fook Sean and Madam Yang Yen Ying Fund for supporting the finances of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.[2]

Death and family

Li suffered from ill health and was sent to hospital with a chronic respiration problem in about 2012. He died of heart failure at the

Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital surrounded by his family on 26 February 2013 at the age of 91.[1]

His brother

Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, deputy chairman at the bank, former Secretary for Education and former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.[1]

Simon Li had four sons and one daughter. His second son Joseph Li died suddenly in Britain in 1995. His only daughter

Vallejos v. Commissioner of Registration
.

Li is of Waitun village, Heshan, Guangdong ancestry.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Moy, Patsy (28 February 2013). "Obituary: Simon Li, the trailblazing judge who took on Tung Chee-hwa". South China Morning Post.
  2. ^ a b "Dr the Honourable Simon Li Fook Sean". Chinese University of Hong Kong.
  3. ^ Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (1997). The Other Hong Kong Report 1997. Chinese University Press. p. 41.
  4. ^ "David Li's family has a history of success - and controversy". 17 February 2008.
Legal offices
Preceded by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
Acting
1986 		Succeeded by
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