Appointed by Donald Tsang Preceded by Geoffrey Ma | Name Andrew Cheung Role Judge | |
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Born September 1961
Hong Kong ( 1961-09 ) Alma mater Harvard University
University of Hong Kong Education University of Hong Kong, Harvard University | ||
Andrew cheung butterfly swords
The Honourable Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung CJHC (Chinese: 張舉能; born 24 September 1961) is a Hong Kong judge, who is the 4th and current Chief Judge of the High Court, and serves also as the President of the Court of Appeal. A graduate of Harvard Law School, 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.
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Early life
Born 24 September 1961 in Hong Kong, Andrew Cheung Kui-nung read law at the University of Hong Kong, and took a Master of Laws degree at Harvard Law School in the United States. 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.
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. He remained in private practice for 15 years.
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. His tenure was marked by a number of high-profile rulings relating to constitutional and human rights matters.
In June 2011, Cheung succeeded Geoffrey Ma as the Chief Judge of the High Court and President of the Court of Appeal, making him the fourth local judge to hold this position.
Cheung is a member of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission. Since 2010, he has been the Chairman of the Working Group on Civil Matters under the Committee on Information Technology. He is also a member of the Working Party on Solicitors’ Right of Audience, High Court Rules Committee, as well as The Chief Justice’s Committee on Judicial Remuneration.
He was elected an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 2017.
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. 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. The appointment was also welcomed by Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma as well as the then Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung. 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'. The Bar Association commended his 'well-earned reputation for his legal scholarship as well as his unfailing courtesy and fairness towards litigants and practicioners who appeared before him'.