Review of 2019
Following tradition, the year began with the Ceremonial Opening of the Legal year on 14 January. The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA spoke about the important facets of Hong Kong’s legal system with a view to providing the necessary context to enable the public to properly appraise and comment on the work of the courts, in particular decisions on matters which greatly concern the community. As contained in the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s legal system is characterized by an independent judiciary where judges are independent from any outside interference in the discharge of their constitutional duties. The essence of fairness and justice also lies in everyone’s entitlement to equal treatment under the law. In addition, the courts look only to the legal issues involved in determining the outcome of the case even the case may carry political, social or economic ramifications. There also exists a proper appellate system under which anyone who feels aggrieved by a judge’s decision may appeal to a higher court. Another important characteristic is the transparency of the work of the courts and this contributes to the community’s confidence in the legal system. These are essential facets of the administration of justice in Hong Kong.
The Chief Justice also provided an update on the Judiciary’s proposals to extend the retirement age for Judges and Judicial Officers ("JJOs") and to introduce legislative amendments to facilitate a more efficient handling of cases involving non-refoulement claims. He also stressed the total commitment of the Judiciary in Hong Kong to rule of law and to serving the community.
►Appointment of Judges and Judicial Officers
Various judicial appointments were made in the year 2019. Among these were the appointment of the Right Hon Lord Jonathan SUMPTION as a Non-Permanent Judge from another common law jurisdiction of the Court of Final Appeal; the appointment of the Hon Mr Justice Jeremy POON as the Chief Judge of the High Court; the appointment of the Hon Madam Justice Susan KWAN as a Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court; the appointment of the Hon Mr Justice Thomas AU as a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court; and the appointments of the Hon Mr Justice Tony POON, the Hon Madam Justice Marlene NG, the Hon Mr Justice Alex LEE, the Hon Mr Justice Russell COLEMAN, the Hon Mr Justice Keith YEUNG and the Hon Madam Justice Linda CHAN as Judges of the Court of First Instance of the High Court.
►Caseload
In 2019, the Judiciary continued to face heavy work pressure at all levels of court. While many performance targets were achieved, a few targets at various levels of courts were not met. To address this challenge, the Judiciary continued to recruit JJOs at the High Court, District Court and Magistrates’ Courts with a view to tackling the shortfall in judicial manpower which is one of the main factors affecting the court waiting times. Pending the substantive filling of judicial vacancies through open recruitment, the Judiciary continued to make use of temporary judicial resources to help maintain judicial manpower required at different levels of court.
During the year, the legislative amendments for extending the statutory retirement age for JJOs were passed. It is hoped that the extended statutory retirement age for JJOs would help relieve the judicial manpower shortage problem by attracting quality candidates who are in private practice to join the Bench and retaining experienced JJOs. Furthermore, progress has been made on the proposed legislative amendments to streamline procedures of the High Court and facilitate the more efficient handling of cases, including those relating to non-refoulement claims. We hope that the relevant legislative process will be able to be completed and the streamlined procedures implemented by 2020. The Judiciary will continue to closely monitor the waiting times for court cases.
►Establishment of the Intellectual Property List of Court of First Instance of High Court
The Intellectual Property List of the Court of First Instance of the High Court was established on 6 May 2019. With the setting up of the List, specialist Judges are assigned to handle and better manage intellectual property cases. This will in the long run reduce costs and the time needed for the resolution of this type of dispute.
►Boards and Committees
The Chief Justice appointed JJOs and invited representatives from the legal profession and relevant government departments to sit on a number of boards and committees to provide their input 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 Proceedings 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.
►Exchanges with other Jurisdictions
In 2019, our JJOs continued exchanges with their counterparts in other jurisdictions. In February, the Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA attended the Sixth Judicial Seminar on Commercial Litigation held in Sydney, Australia. In May, he attended the Asia-Pacific Judicial Colloquium 2019 held in Singapore. In mid-September, he led a seven-member delegation to attend the Fifth Seminar of Senior Judges of Cross-Strait and Hong Kong and Macao in Zhanjiang. In end-September, he spoke at the Asia-Pacific Regional Forum Lunch in the International Bar Association Annual Conference 2019 in Seoul, Korea and also gave a lecture at the Seoul National University. In September, the Hon Mr Justice R A V RIBEIRO, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, attended the Global Constitutionalism Seminar 2019 held at the Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, the United States. In March, the Hon Madam Justice Bebe CHU, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, attended the 2019 Singapore Family Mediation Symposium held in Singapore. In August, the Hon Mr Justice Tony POON, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, led a five-member delegation to visit various courts in Perth and Sydney, Australia to enhance understanding on how court case management can be improved through application of information technology.
►Visits and Visitors to the Judiciary
In 2019, the Judiciary arranged 337 visits for about 10 000 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 2019.
