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Review of 2017
Highlights of events in 2017
List of Judges and Judicial Officers
Caseload, Case Disposal and Waiting Time at Different Court Levels
Membership list of the Civil Justice Reform Monitoring Committee
Membership list of the Working Party on Mediation
Membership list of the Court Users' Committees
Membership list of the Judicial Studies Board
Judiciary Administration
Judicial Training
Number of Visits and Vistors to the Judiciary
Expenditure and Revenue of the Judiciary in 2016-2017
Complaints Against Judges and Judicial Officers
Complaints Against the Judiciary Administration
Photo Gallery
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Review of 2017
 
Following tradition, the year began with the Ceremonial Opening of the Legal Year on 9 January. The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA spoke about the purpose of the law to facilitate the functioning of a society, and to achieve a sense of mutual respect and harmony. This was the community approach of the courts : For the respect not just of individual rights but respect for everyone’s rights and interests. Reference was made to the statue representing justice (Themis) standing at the top of the Court of Final Appeal Building. This statue represented equality before the courts (she is blindfolded), that no one should gain any advantage by reason of status nor should anyone suffer any disadvantage by reason of status either. All are treated equally, and legal principle and legal procedures apply in the same way. The scales held by Themis represents the balancing of interests that has sometimes to be undertaken. The role of judges in the administration of justice in the discharge of their constitutional duty is key.

 
The Chief Justice also stressed the importance of maintaining the high standards in the Judiciary notwithstanding the recruitment difficulties faced by the Judiciary over the past few years.
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West Kowloon Law Courts Building
 

 
The West Kowloon Law Courts Building (“the Building”) has come into full operation after the relocation of the Coroner’s Court and the Obscene and Articles Tribunal to it in January 2017. The Chief Justice officiated at the opening ceremony of the Building on 12 May 2017.

 
Housing also the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts and the Small Claims Tribunal which have commenced operation therein last year, the Building has a total of 32 courtrooms and other support facilities, such as consultation rooms, waiting rooms, registries, an information centre, etc, which help enhance services to the court users.
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Exchanges with other Jurisdictions
 

 
In 2017, our Judges and Judicial Officers attended various conferences and seminars for exchanges with their counterparts from other jurisdictions. In May, the Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA attended the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts hosted by the Judiciary of England and Wales of the United Kingdom. In end May/early June, he attended the 4th Asia-Pacific Judicial Colloquium in Vancouver, Canada. In September, the Judiciary hosted the Fourth Seminar of Senior Judges of Cross-Strait and Hong Kong and Macao; the Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA also attended the 17th Conference of Chief Justices of Asia and the Pacific and delivered a speech at the 30th LAWASIA Conference held in Tokyo, Japan.
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Appointment of Judges and Judicial Officers
 

 
Many judicial appointments took effect in 2017. Among these were the appointments of the Hon Madam Justice Susana Maria D’ALMADA REMEDIOS, the Hon Mr Justice Wilson CHAN and the Hon Madam Justice Lisa WONG as Judges of the Court of First Instance of the High Court.
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Caseload and Case Disposal
 
In 2017, the overall performance was satisfactory. The majority of the performance targets at various levels of courts were achieved. Although a few targets on the average waiting time for cases in the Court of First Instance of High Court were not met, improvement has shown as compared with previous years. During the year, the Judiciary issued a new Practice Direction to enhance management of criminal proceedings at the Court of First Instance of the High Court, and appointed Deputy Judges, with a view to handling as many cases as possible and shortening the waiting time. To address the shortfall in judicial manpower which is one of the factors affecting the court waiting time for the High Court, as well as the long-term needs of the whole of the Judiciary, the conditions of service of Judges and Judicial Officers were enhanced with effect from 1 April 2017, and another review on the statutory retirement ages of Judges and Judicial Officers was completed before the end of 2017. The Judiciary will continue to closely monitor the waiting time for court cases.
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Membership of Boards and Committees
 
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, Admiralty Court Users’ Committee, Civil Court Users’ Committee, Criminal Court Users’ Committee, Family Court Users’ Committee, Competition Tribunal Users’ Committee, Sub-Committee on Companies and Insolvency Matters of the Civil Court Users’ Committee and the Governing Body of the Hong Kong Judicial Institute.
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Visits and Visitors to the Judiciary
 
In 2017, the Judiciary arranged 330 visits for about 9600 visitors. Among all, most visitors are local students. We greatly value all opportunities to meet with visitors and introduce to them the work of the Judiciary.

 
You are cordially invited to visit our Photo Gallery for various memorable moments of the Judiciary in 2017.
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