Review of 2012

Following the tradition, the year 2012 began with the Ceremonial Opening of the Legal Year on 9 January, at which the Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA spoke about the work of the Judiciary and the operation of the law as it affected the community. The Chief Justice also mentioned the exciting project to relocate the Court of Final Appeal to No. 8 Jackson Road, with a view to making available many restored historical features of the original building for the public to enjoy. On access to justice, the Chief Justice emphasised that there could not fully be justice unless there was proper access to it. He approached this question from the vantage points of the Government, the Court and the legal profession. He also mentioned two areas in which the administration of justice could be improved, namely, improving the cost-effectiveness of the legal proceedings involved in claims under various anti-discrimination ordinances, and considering abolishing the automatic right of litigants in a civil dispute to appeal from the Court of Appeal to the Court of Final Appeal based solely on monetary value.

In 2012, our Judges and Judicial Officers attended various conferences and seminars for exchanges with their counterparts from other jurisdictions. In particular, the Chief Justice attended the Supreme Court of Queensland Seminar in Brisbane in August. He gave a talk on the topic “Duties Owed to the Court: Fact, Fiction and Continuing Relevance”, which was well received. During his visit, the Chief Justice met with his counterparts, including the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia.

Many judicial appointments were made in the year 2012. Most notable were the appointment of the Hon Mr Justice Robert TANG as a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, the appointment of the Hon Mr Justice Johnson LAM and the Hon Mr Justice Aarif T BARMA as Justices of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, and the appointment of the Hon Madam Justice Queeny AU-YEUNG, the Hon Mr Justice Patrick LI, the Hon Madam Justice Esther TOH, the Hon Mr Justice Louis CHAN, the Hon Mr Justice Andrew CHAN, the Hon Madam Justice Mimmie CHAN, and the Hon Mr Justice Anthony CHAN as Judges of the Court of First Instance of the High Court.

In general, there have not been great fluctuations in the numbers of caseload and cases disposed of. As regards waiting times, the majority of the performance targets at various levels of courts were achieved. A few targets in the High Court were not met. One of the main reasons for this is due to the temporary constraints in the deployment of judicial manpower in the High Court as a result of elevation of Judges to higher positions and retirement of Judges. The open recruitment exercise for the Judges of the Court of First Instance of the High Court was completed in mid 2012 and new appointments were announced in the latter part of 2012 and will be made in 2013. These new substantive appointments will help in improving the waiting times. The Judiciary will continue to closely monitor the situation.

The Chief Justice appointed Judges and Judicial Officers and invited representatives from the legal profession and relevant government departments to sit on a number of boards and committees to contribute valuable views to issues that are important to the operation of the Judiciary. These boards and committees include the Civil Justice Reform Monitoring Committee, Working Party on Mediation, Civil Court Users’ Committee, Criminal Court Users’ Committee and Family Court Users’ Committee.

In 2012, the Judiciary arranged about 300 visits with more than 8,600 visitors. Among all, most visitors are local students. We treasure all opportunities to meet with visitors and introduce to them different perspectives of the Judiciary.

You are cordially invited to visit our Photo Gallery for various memorable moments of the Judiciary in 2012.