Andrew Cheung

The Honourable Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung PJ (Chinese: 張舉能; born 24 September 1961) is a Hong Kong judge, who serves as a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong. He was previously the 4th Chief Judge of the High Court, and the President of the Court of Appeal. A graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Hong Kong, he was a barrister-at-law in private practice prior to his judicial career, and was qualified to practise in Hong Kong as well as Singapore.

The Honourable Mr Justice

Andrew Cheung Kui-nung

PJ
張舉能
The Hon. Mr Justice Cheung speaking at a Mediation Conference in 2014
Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal
Assumed office
25 October 2018
Appointed byCarrie Lam
Preceded byRobert Tang
4th Chief Judge of the High Court
In office
20 June 2011 – 24 October 2018
Appointed byDonald Tsang
Preceded byGeoffrey Ma
Succeeded byJeremy Poon
Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court
In office
2003–2011
Deputy High Court Judge
In office
2001–2003
Judge of the District Court
In office
2001–2003
Personal details
Born (1961-09-24) 24 September 1961
British Hong Kong
NationalityHong Kong
Alma materHarvard Law School
University of Hong Kong
OccupationJudge
ProfessionBarrister
Andrew Cheung
Traditional Chinese張舉能
Simplified Chinese张举能
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Cheung.

On 24 March 2020, acting on the recommendation of the independent Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission (JORC), Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced Cheung's appointment (subject to the endorsement of the Legislative Council in accordance with Articles 73 and 90 of the Basic Law) as the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal upon the retirement of Geoffrey Ma on 11 January 2021.[1]

Early life

Born on 24 September 1961, Andrew Cheung Kui-nung attended Ying Wa College, before reading law at the University of Hong Kong, and taking a Master of Laws degree at Harvard Law School in the United States.[2] Cheung served briefly as a Lecturer and Demonstrator of the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong on a part-time basis after graduation.[3]

The Bar: 1985–2001

Cheung was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 1985 and began private practice the following year; in 1995, he was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore.[2]

The bench: 2001–

Cheung was appointed to the bench in 2001 as a judge of the District Court of Hong Kong. Sitting first as a Deputy High Court Judge in December 2001, he was soon elevated to the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 2003. He was then appointed as the Probate Judge in 2004, before becoming the Judge in charge of the Constitutional and Administrative Law List of the High Court in 2008.[2] His tenure was marked by a number of high-profile rulings relating to constitutional and human rights matters.[4][5]

In June 2011, Cheung succeeded Geoffrey Ma as the Chief Judge of the High Court and President of the Court of Appeal,[6][7] making him the fourth local judge to hold this position.

He was elected an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 2017.[8]

On 21 March 2018, the Judiciary announced his appointment as a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal with effect from 25 October 2018, succeeding Robert Tang. Cheung's appointment was accompanied by the appointments of Baroness Hale and Beverley McLachlin as Non-Permanent Judges of the city's top court.[9] He held the office of Chief Judge of the High Court for 7 years, 127 days – the longest serving of the four judges who had served in the role.

Cheung is a member of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission, which makes recommendations to the Chief Executive on judicial appointments. He is a member of the Law Reform Commission.[10][11] He also chairs or is a member of various committees and working parties within the Judiciary. He is the Chairman of the High Court Rules Committee, District Court Rules Committee, Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, Civil Justice Reform Monitoring Committee, and Working Group on Civil Matters and Working Group on Integrated Court Case Management System under the Committee on Information Technology. He is a member of the Chief Justice's Committee on Judicial Renumeration, Committee on Information Technology, Working Group on the use of Chinese, Governing Body of the Hong Kong Judicial Institute and the Chief Justice's Working Group on Retirement Ages of Judges and Judicial Officers.[12]

Reception

On Cheung's appointment as Chief Judge, Donald Tsang praised Cheung as an outstanding lawyer, and a man of integrity who commands strong respect within and outside the judiciary.[13] Margaret Ng, who represented the legal sector as a Civic Party legislator, remarked that the appointment came as little surprise; whereas senior counsel Ronny Tong, who also served as a legislator with the Civic Party, similarly expressed his approval, observing that: 'He [Cheung] works well with his colleagues in the judiciary and has a nice temperament.' At the age of 49, Tong added that Cheung's appointment would be part of the judiciary's promotion of relatively young judges to senior positions.[14] The appointment was also welcomed by Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma as well as the then Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung.[15] The Legislative Council Motion endorsing Cheung's appointment commended him as 'an outstanding lawyer [who] has the proven ability to handle difficult and complex cases... [as well as] the potential of being a good administrator... of the High Court'.[16] The Bar Association commended his 'well-earned reputation for his legal scholarship as well as his unfailing courtesy and fairness towards litigants and practitioners who appeared before him'.[17]

Following his announcement as permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal, academic Eric Cheung commended Cheung as an intelligent and industrious judge.[18] Chief Executive Carrie Lam praised Cheung as "an outstanding lawyer" who has dealt with high-profile cases relating to administrative and constitutional law in recent years.[19]

The announcement on 24 March 2020 of Cheung's appointment as the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal was welcomed by the Hong Kong Bar Association, which released a statement that he 'commands the respect of the Bar' and 'will capably discharge the duties of the Chief Justice in accordance with the requirements of the Basic Law'.[20] Cheung's appointment was also welcomed by the Law Society of Hong Kong, which issued a statement that he 'has a distinguished record of judicial service on the Bench' and 'will continue with the good tradition of Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma to head an independent Judiciary upholding the rule of law which is of cardinal importance to Hong Kong under the principle of One Country Two Systems'.[21]

However, not all reactions were overwhelmingly positive. Legal sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok raised concerns on Cheung's previous comments regarding China's interference in Hong Kong's legal system, and other legal observers have commented that Cheung is "competent but conservative".[22][23]

Personal

Cheung is married and has three children.[24]

References
  1. "Senior Judicial Appointment: Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal". Government of Hong Kong. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  2. "Annex Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Government of Hong Kong. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  3. "Judicial Appointment". Government of Hong Kong. 21 August 2003. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  4. "Andrew Cheung named as new chief judge". www.scmp.com. SCMP.
  5. "Notable CFI Judgments" (PDF). Hong Kong Legco.
  6. "Cheung named next chief of High Court". The Standard. 12 April 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  7. "Government Notice No.3932, Gazette 2011 Vol.15 No.25". Government of Hong Kong. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  8. eveb. "List of Benchers". www.lincolnsinn.org.uk. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  9. "Top court gets new judges". The Standard. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  10. "Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal - The Permanent Judges - The Honourable Mr Justice Andrew CHEUNG Kui-nung". www.hkcfa.hk.
  11. "Civil And Miscellaneous Lists : Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  12. "JORC Report 2015" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  13. "New Chief Judge named". rthk.hk. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  14. "Andrew Cheung named as new chief judge". Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  15. singtao.ca. "法律界讚年輕能幹人緣好 張舉能任高院首席法官_星島日報_加拿大多倫多中文新聞網。 Canada Toronto Chinese newspaper". news.singtao.ca. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  16. "Speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration at the meeting of the Legislative Council on 8 June 2011" (PDF).
  17. "Hong Kong Bar Association Fax Cover Sheet" (PDF).
  18. "張舉能10月出任終院常任法官 料處理中文案件". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  19. "Chief Exec. Carrie Lam hails 'historic moment' as Hong Kong set to welcome first female judges to top court | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  20. "Press Statement by the Hong Kong Bar Association" (PDF). Hong Kong Bar Association. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2020.
  21. "Statement by The Law Society of Hong Kong on Appointment of the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal" (PDF). Law Society of Hong Kong. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020.
  22. "Hong Kong democrats raise concerns over gov'ts choice of new chief justice, Andrew Cheung". Hong Kong Free Press.
  23. "Hong Kong's next chief justice Andrew Cheung will have to deal with several cases involving key constitutional disputes". South China Morning Post.
  24. "Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal - The Permanent Judges - The Honourable Mr Justice Andrew CHEUNG Kui-nung". www.hkcfa.hk.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Robert Tang		 Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal
2018–present
Served alongside: Robert Ribeiro, Joseph Fok		 Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by
Joseph Fok
Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal		 Hong Kong order of precedence
Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal		 Succeeded by
Frank Stock
Non-permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal
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