Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal


The Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal are full-time judges sitting on Hong Kong's final appellate court, the Court of Final Appeal. They are called Permanent Judges because they are required to sit on every appeal committee and court case relating to the Court of Final Appeal, and to distinguish them from other part-time jurists who also sit on the top court, known as Non-Permanent Judges.

History

At the founding of the court on 1 July 1997, as the Permanent Judges were all sworn in on the same day, they were sorted by seniority. The Chief Justice sat in the middle; Henry Litton, being the most senior judge and would sit on the Chief Justice's right, with Charles Ching being the second most senior judge and Kemal Bokhary being the least senior Permanent Judge, sitting on the right of Henry Litton.

Eligibility

According to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance, Permanent Judges are recommended by the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission, and officially appointed by the Chief Executive. People may be eligible to become a Permanent Judge by being the Chief Judge of the High Court, a High Court judge, or practiced as a barrister or solicitor in Hong Kong for over 10 years.
In practice, every Permanent Judge appointed has been at least a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal or above ; no practicing barrister has ever been appointed directly as a Permanent Judge without full time judicial experience.

Length of service

Permanent Judges are required to retire by age 70, but this can be extended by up to two three-year terms, so final retirement age may be 76. This came into effect in late 2019, whereas previously the retirement age was 65, also with two three-year extensions possible for a final retirement age of 71.

List of Permanent Judges

There are to be at least three Permanent Judges on the top court at any given time, with the current Judges in bold in the list below.
No.NamePlace of birthAge at startReplacingTook officeLeft officeTenure lengthPrevious judicial officesHigher educationNationality SilkAppointed by
1Henry Denis Litton, GBM
Hong KongInaugural1 July 199713 September 2000Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal
Vice-President of the Court of Appeal 		University of Oxford BritishQC Tung Chee-hwa
2Charles Arthur Ching, GBM
Hong KongInaugural1 July 19976 October 2000Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal University of Oxford AustralianQC Tung Chee-hwa
3Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary, GBM
Hong KongInaugural1 July 199724 October 2012Judge of the High Court of Justice
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal 		City Law SchoolBritishQC Tung Chee-hwa
4Patrick Chan Siu-oi, GBM
Hong KongLitton1 September 200020 October 2013District Judge
Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court
Judge of the High Court of Justice
Chief Judge of the High Court 		University of Hong Kong Hong KongTung Chee-hwa
5Roberto Alexandre Vieira Ribeiro, GBM
Hong KongChing1 September 2000IncumbentRecorder of the Court of First Instance
Judge of the Court of First Instance
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal 		London School of Economics BritishQC Tung Chee-hwa
6Robert Tang Kwok-ching, GBM, SBS
Shanghai, ChinaBokhary25 October 201224 October 2018Deputy District Judge
Deputy High Court Judge
Recorder of the High Court of Justice/Court of First Instance
Judge of the Court of First Instance
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal
Vice-President of the Court of Appeal
Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal 		University of Birmingham BritishQC Leung Chun-ying
7Joseph Paul Fok
Hong KongChan21 October 2013IncumbentRecorder of the Court of First Instance
Judge of the Court of First Instance
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal 		University College London
City Law School		BritishSC Leung Chun-ying
8Andrew Cheung Kui-nung, GBM
Hong KongTang25 October 201810 January 2021District Judge
Deputy High Court Judge
Judge of the Court of First Instance
Chief Judge of the High Court 		University of Hong Kong
Harvard Law School 		Hong Kong

Carrie Lam
9Johnson Lam Man-hon
Hong Kong59 years and 11 months
Cheung30 July 2021IncumbentDistrict Judge
Judge of the Court of First Instance
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal
Vice-President of the Court of Appeal 		University of Hong Kong Carrie Lam

Education

By PCLL

Note: A PCLL is separate from a graduate degree, commonly known as the LLM or BCL
  1. University of Hong Kong – Chan, Cheung, Lam

By graduate degree

  1. London School of Economics – Ribeiro
  2. Harvard University – Cheung

By undergraduate degree

  1. University of Hong Kong – Chan, Cheung, Lam
  2. University of Oxford – Litton, Ching
  3. London School of Economics – Ribeiro
  4. University of Birmingham – Tang
  5. University College London – Fok