Highlights of Events in 2012

Mr FUNG Pak-tung, Patrick, SC, Mr HO Ambrose, SC, Mr JAT Sew-tong, SC, Mr CHAN Kin-keung, Anthony, SC, Mr YUEN Rimsky, SC and Mr SHIEH Wing-tai, Paul, SC were re-appointed Recorders of the Court of First Instance of the High Court

A 43-member delegation of the Chinese Law Society and Comparative Law Study Group, Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Republic of Korea, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA declared opening of the 2012 Legal Year

Ms Tiina ASTOLA, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Finland, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Mr Justice Michael J HARTMANN, Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court and the Hon Mr Justice S C POON, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, attended the Hague Child Abduction Convention: Sixth Meeting of the Special Commission (Part II) in Hague, the Netherlands

A 13-member delegation led by Mr JIANG Huiling, Deputy Director of Judicial Reform Office of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, visited the Judiciary

A seven-member delegation from the Justice Departments/Bureaux of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

Dr Peretz SEGAL, Head of the Legal Counsel Department of the Ministry of Justice of Israel, visited the Judiciary

Legislative Council Members visited the Judiciary

The term of office of the Hon Mr Justice Murray GLEESON, the Rt Hon the Lord NEUBERGER of Abbotsbury, the Rt Hon the Lord WALKER of Gestingthorpe, Non-Permanent Judges from other common law jurisdictions of the Court of Final Appeal, was extended for a period of three years

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

Dr František KORBEL, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA delivered a talk entitled "Judicial Independence: A Matter of Perception or of Reasoning?" at the Seventh Conference of the Independence of the Judiciary at the City University of Hong Kong

A 12-member delegation of the Judicial Service Commission of the Republic of Kenya visited the Judiciary

Ms Beatrix KARL, Federal Minister of Justice of Austria, visited the Judiciary

Mr Peter LODDER QC, former Chairman of the General Council of the Bar of the United Kingdom, visited the Judiciary

Ms HU Zejun, Executive Deputy Procurator-General of Supreme People's Procuratorate of the People's Republic of China, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA delivered a keynote address on "Legal Limits in the Battle against Corruption" at the opening of the Fifth ICAC Symposium

A 30-member delegation of judges attending the Fifth Advanced Programme for Chinese Senior Judges at the Law School of the City University of Hong Kong visited the Judiciary

Mr SO Kai-cheung, Miss HO Lai-ming, Miss LAU Suk-han, Mr LI Chi-ho and Ms LEUNG Ka-kie were appointed Special Magistrates

The Hon Mr Justice Patrick CHAN, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, attended as a distinguished guest at the 60th Anniversary Celebration of the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing and a key speaker in one of the two parallel academic conferences on "Legal Reform and Legal Education's Innovation"

The Hon Mr Justice S K S BOKHARY, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, visited Switzerland to deliver a public lecture on "The Rule of Law in Hong Kong 15 years after the Handover" at the University of Zurich

Chief Justice Marilyn WARREN of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia visited the Judiciary

The Hon Mr Justice R A V RIBEIRO, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, participated in the 21st International Council for Commercial Arbitration Congress and attended as a distinguished visitor to Singapore under the Singapore Law Visitors Programme of the Singapore Academy of Law

His Honour Paul SMITH, Member of the Land Court of Queensland, Australia, visited the Judiciary

Mr Ernest SCHMATT, the Chief Executive of the Judicial Commission of New South Wales, Australia, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Mr Justice John Barry MORTIMER, Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, delivered a talk entitled "The Rule of Law : The Role of the Judge and Bar" at the High Court

The term of office of the Rt Hon Sir Thomas Munro GAULT, Non-Permanent Judge from another common law jurisdiction of the Court of Final Appeal, was extended for a period of three years

The appointment of Mr YUEN Rimsky, SC as a Recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court was revoked

A 15-member delegation attending a summer programme co-organised by the University of Hong Kong and Shantou University of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

A group of 13 law students from Shantou University of the People's Republic of China visited the Judiciary

A 21-member delegation of the International Criminal Law Study Group, the Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Republic of Korea, visited the Judiciary

The Hon James SPIGELMAN, AC, QC visited the Judiciary

A five-member delegation led by Mr Justice Anthony GATES, Chief Justice of the Republic of Fiji, visited the Judiciary

A 22-member delegation from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution of the United States visited the Judiciary

The term of office of three Non-Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal consisting of one Hong Kong judge and two judges from other common law jurisdictions was extended for a period of three years:

Non-Permanent Hong Kong Judge
Mr Justice John Barry MORTIMER

Non-Permanent Judges from other common law jurisdictions
The Hon Sir Anthony MASON
The Rt Hon the Lord MILLETT

The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA gave a talk on the topic of "Duties Owed to the Court: Fact, Fiction and Continuing Relevance" at the Supreme Court of Queensland Seminar in Brisbane, Australia; attended the Meeting of the Council of Chief Justices of Australia and New Zealand; attended the opening of the new courthouse in Brisbane; and met with his counterparts including the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia

The Hon Mr Justice Johnson LAM was appointed Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court

Madam Registrar Queeny AU-YEUNG, His Honour Judge Patrick LI, Her Honour Judge Esther TOH, His Honour Judge Louis CHAN, His Honour Judge Andrew CHAN and Her Honour Judge Mimmie CHAN were appointed Judges of the Court of First Instance of the High Court

A 12-member delegation led by Mr TAN Guoxiang, Executive Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress visited the Judiciary

The Judiciary and Department of Justice co-hosted the International Family Justice Judicial Conference 2012

The Hon Mr Justice R A V RIBEIRO, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, attended the Yale's Global Constitutionalism Seminar at the Peace Palace, the Hague, the Netherlands

A 27-member delegation from the Court of Appeal, Region 8 of Thailand visited the Judiciary

Mr William TREANOR, Dean of Georgetown University Law Centre of the United States, and Professor James FEINERMAN, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Madam Justice Susan KWAN, Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, attended the Sixth Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration Incorporated Appellate Judges' Conference in Brisbane, Australia

The term of office of the Hon Mr Justice Henry Denis LITTON, Non-Permanent Hong Kong Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, was extended for a period of three years

A six-member delegation from the China University of Political Science and Law visited the Judiciary

His Honour Judge S T POON was appointed Chief District Judge

Mr KWOK Wai-kin, Mr LAM Wai-kuen, Josiah, Mr KWOK Kai-on, Anthony, Mr DUFTON David John, Mr SHAM Siu-man, Ms WOODCOCK Amanda Jane, Mr HUI Ka-ho, Mr WONG Kin-tong, Jack, Ms LO Kit-yee, Katherine, Mr CHAN Jong-herng, Johnny and Mr LAM Kar-yan, Gary were appointed District Judges

Mr LI Chi-ho, Ms WONG Susan, Ms LAU Yee-wan, Winnie, Mr TANG Siu-hung, Daniel, Mr CHEUNG Chi-wai, David, Mr CHENG Lim-chi, Ms LAM Mei-sze, Michelle, Mr CHUM Yau-fong, David, Mr SHUM Kei-leong, Timon, Mr KO Wai-hung and Miss HO Wai-yang were appointed Magistrates

A 12-member delegation from the Court of Appeal, Region 2 of Thailand visited the Judiciary

The Rt Hon the Lord PHILLIPS of Worth Matravers was appointed Non-Permanent Judge from another common law jurisdiction of the Court of Final Appeal

A 29-member delegation of judges attending the Sixth Advanced Programme for Chinese Senior Judges at the Law School of the City University of Hong Kong visited the Judiciary

Her Honour Judge Sharon D MELLOY, District Judge, attended the Concurrent Conference of the Family Court of Australia and Federal Magistrates Court in Hobart, Australia and gave a speech

Her Honour Judge Sharon D MELLOY, District Judge, attended the 15th National Family Law Conference in Hobart, Australia

The Hon Mr Justice Wally YEUNG, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, attended the Inaugural Meeting of the National Indemnity Theory Specialised Committee of the China Judicial Theory Research Association and the Symposium on "The Perfection of Criminal Indemnity System" in Guiyang of the People's Republic of China

The Hon Mr Justice Robert TANG was appointed Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal

The Hon Mr Justice S K S BOKHARY was appointed Non-Permanent Hong Kong Judge of the Court of Final Appeal

A 12-member delegation led by Dr. Wolfgang POESCHL, Vice-President of the Supreme Court of Austria, visited the Judiciary

Mr CHAN Kin-keung, Anthony, SC was appointed Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court

His Honour Judge Jack WONG, District Judge, attended the Special Commission Meeting on the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents in the Hague, the Netherlands

A 12-member delegation led by Mr XI Xiaoming, Vice President of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, visited the Judiciary

Mr LI Shu-yuk, Andrew and Mr AU-YEUNG Ho-wing, Herbert were appointed District Judges

Ms CHEUNG Kit-yee and Ms CHEUNG Tin-ngan, June were appointed Magistrates

A 25-member delegation of judges attending the Second Doctor of Juridical Science (Chinese Judges) Programme of the City University of Hong Kong visited the Judiciary

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

The Hon Mr Justice Barnabas FUNG, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, attended the Conference on "Mediation in Hong Kong – Your Options" in Huizhou and delivered the opening speech

The Hon Mr Justice Aarif T BARMA was appointed Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court

His Worship Henry Peter ADONYO, Chief Registrar of Uganda, visited the Judiciary

Mr Michael TODD QC, Chairman of the Bar of England and Wales, visited the Judiciary

The Hon Judith COLLINS, Minister of Justice of New Zealand, visited the Judiciary

A 12-member delegation led by Mr HU Yifeng, President of the Neimenggu Higher People's Court of the People's Republic of China, visited the Judiciary

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

A six-member delegation led by Mr HAO Chiyong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China, visited the Judiciary