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The Solicitor General of Hong Kong (Chinese: 法律政策專員) is head of the Legal Policy Division of the Department of Justice (Chinese: 律政司) in Hong Kong. He (to date no woman has held the post) is responsible for the development of legal policy, advising the Secretary for Justice (called the Attorney General before 1997) on legal issues, and overseeing the department's staff and legislative programme.
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History of the Role
The position of Solicitor General in Hong Kong was created after the end of World War II. The Solicitor General acted as the deputy of the Attorney General and regularly appeared in court.
In 1979, the roles of Law Draftsman, Law Officer (Civil) and Crown Prosecutor (called from the inception of the position Director of Public Prosecutions) were created and the position of Solicitor General was abolished. It was reinstated in 1981 with the Solicitor General being put in charge of legal policy.
The Secretary for Justice is now assisted by 5 law officers, namely:
Current position holder
The current Solicitor General is Wesley Wong Wai-chung, who was appointed in September 2015.
Remuneration for the post, as advertised in 2015, is HK$201,950 (up from HK$162,650 in 2000) per month, together with housing allowance, 'leave passage allowance', and other benefits.