Highlights of Events in 2011

Mr Steve Zack, President of American Bar Association, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma declared opening of the 2011 Legal Year

Mr Huang Liuquan, Director General of the Department of Law, the Hong Kong and Macao Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma and the Hon Mr Justice Patrick Chan, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, visited Beijing to meet with officials from the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Justice, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Legislative Affairs Commission, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Hong Kong Basic Law Committee, and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council

The Hon Mr Justice Frank Stock, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, visited Sydney and Melbourne, Australia to study the appeal system and judicial training framework

Mr Ho Chi-yin, Andy, Deputy Registrar of the High Court, undertook a visit to London, the United Kingdom on the provision of free legal assistance to litigants-in-person

The Hon Mr Justice Joseph P Fok was appointed Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court

Mr Ian C McWalters, SC was appointed Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court

A four-member delegation from the Supreme Court of Singapore visited the Judiciary

Mr David Chong Gek Sian, Head of Civil Division of the Singapore Attorney General's Chambers, visited the Judiciary

A six-member delegation from the All Party Parliamentary China Group of the United Kingdom Parliament visited the Judiciary

A six-member delegation from the Yunnan Province Higher People's Court of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

A 10-member delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

The Hon Mr Justice Jonathan R Harris, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, attended the Ninth Multinational Judicial Colloquium on Insolvency and INSOL International Annual Regional Conference in Singapore

Mr Tsai Cheng-wen, President of Kuomintang National Policy Foundation, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma; the Hon Mr Justice Andrew Cheung, the Hon Mr Justice Anselmo F T Reyes and the Hon Mr Justice Mohan T Bharwaney, Judges of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, attended the Third Judicial Seminar on Commercial Litigation in Sydney, Australia

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma addressed a luncheon organised by the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia in Sydney, Australia

The Hon Mr Justice Frank Stock, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, visited London, the United Kingdom to study the criminal appeal process and setup for judicial education

A 36-member delegation of judges attending the Advanced Programme for Chinese Senior Judges at the Law School of the City University of Hong Kong visited the Judiciary

A 16-member delegation of Mainland judges joining a study tour organised by the Legal Education Trust Fund visited the Judiciary

A five-member delegation from the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

An eight-member delegation from the Henan High People's Court of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

The Hon Mr Justice John L Saunders, SBS, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, attended as a speaker at the International Commercial Law Conference in Sydney, Australia

The Hon Mr Justice Michael J Hartmann, Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, and Her Honour Judge Bebe Chu, Principal Family Court Judge, attended the Hague Child Abduction Convention: Sixth meeting of the Special Commission (Part I) in Hague, the Netherlands

The Hon Madam Justice Carlye Chu was appointed Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma attended and gave a talk at the 14th Conference of the Chief Justices of Asia and the Pacific in Seoul, Korea

The Hon Mr Justice Andrew Cheung was appointed Chief Judge of the High Court

A 31-member delegation from the Law Reform and International Law Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region visited the Judiciary

An eight-member delegation from the Tokyo Bar Association visited the Judiciary

A group of 12 law students from Shantou University of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

The Hon Mr Justice Wally Yeung, Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, was appointed Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court

A six-member delegation from the Jiangxu Higher People's Court of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

A 15-member delegation of educators attending the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Programme (Chinese History and Cultural Group) of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, the United States, visited the Judiciary

Her Honour Judge Bebe Chu, Principal Family Court Judge, attended the Triennial National Family Court Judges Conference 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand

The Hon Mr Justice Cheung, Chief Judge of the High Court; Mr Lung Kim-wan, Temporary Registrar of the High Court and Mr Lee Hing-nin, Clement, Temporary Registrar of the District Court, visited Singapore to study the latest information technology developments in court operation and attend the International Conference on Electronic Litigation 2011

A five-member delegation led by the Hon Alex Chernov, Governor of Victoria, Australia, visited the Judiciary

The Rt Hon Lady Justice Hallett DBE, Lord Justice of Appeal, Court of Appeal of England and Wales; Treasurer Inner Temple; and Chairman of the Judicial College delivered a talk entitled "Judicial Independence: a Personal Perspective" at the High Court

Her Honour Judge Sharon D Melloy, District Judge, attended the International Family Law Conference 2011 in London, the United Kingdom

A 12-member delegation from the Court of Appeal of Thailand visited the Judiciary

Judge Liu Guixiang, Tribunal Director of No. 4 Civil Court, Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma; the Hon Mr Justice Patrick Chan, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal; the Hon Mr Justice Cheung, Chief Judge of the High Court; the Hon Mr Justice Johnson Lam, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court and Her Honour Judge Bebe Chu, Principal Family Court Judge, attended the Inaugural Seminar of Senior Judges of the Four Places (Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) on Mediation in Nanjing

The Hon Mr Justice R A V Ribeiro, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, attended the Yale Global Constitutionalism Seminar at the Yale Law School, the United States

A five-member delegation led by the Rt Hon the Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, President of The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, visited the Judiciary

The Rt Hon the Lord Hope of Craighead, KT, Deputy President of The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, delivered a talk entitled "Writing Judgments" at the High Court

A 35-member delegation of judges attending the Advanced Programme for Chinese Senior Judges at the Law School of the City University of Hong Kong visited the Judiciary

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma met with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Attorney General of the Department of Justice of the United States in Washington DC, the United States

The Hon Mr Justice S C Poon, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, and Her Honour Judge Bebe Chu, Principal Family Court Judge, attended the Fourth Asia Pacific Regional Conference of the Hague Conference on Private International Law in Manila, the Philippines. The Hon Mr Justice Michael J Hartmann, Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, gave a speech at the Conference on 27.10.2011.

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma met with the President and other justices of The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and Lord Chief Justice in London, the United Kingdom

Mr Michael Thomas Q.C. delivered a talk entitled "The Business of Judging - a civil practitioner's view" at the High Court

An eight-member delegation from the Guangdong Higher People’s Court of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

A 20-member delegation of judges attending the first Doctor of Juridical Science (Chinese Judges) Programme of the City University of Hong Kong visited the Judiciary

The Hon Henry Denis Litton, GBM, Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, delivered a lunch-time talk entitled "If You Want to Shoot, Shoot! Don't Talk" at the High Court

The Hon Mr Justice K K Pang, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, attended as a speaker at two seminars on topics of "Judicial System of Hong Kong" and "Criminal Procedure of Hong Kong" in Macao

The Rt Hon Lord Justice Rix, Lord Justice of Appeal, Court of Appeal of England and Wales, delivered a talk entitled "Virtues and Vices of Litigation" at the High Court

An eight-member delegation from the Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

A 15-member delegation of the Legal and Judicial Training Centre of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

The Hon Mr Justice S K S Bokhary, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, assisted in the delivery of the Inaugural Induction Workshop for the Judges of the Supreme Court of Kenya in Nanyuki, Kenya

The Hon Mr Justice Michael V Lunn was appointed Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court