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. Hence, Henry Litton was 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. A person may be eligible to become a Permanent Judge if he or she is the Chief Judge of the High Court, is a High Court judge, or any barrister who has 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.NameReplacingTook officeLeft officeTenure lengthPrevious judicial officesHigher educationNationalityAppointed bySilk
1Henry Denis Litton, GBM
Inaugural1 July 199714 September 2000Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal
Vice-President of the Court of Appeal 		University of Oxford BritishTung Chee-hwaQC
2Charles Arthur Ching, GBM
Inaugural1 July 19976 October 2000Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal University of Oxford AustralianTung Chee-hwaQC
3Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary, GBM
Inaugural1 July 199724 October 2012Judge of the High Court of Justice
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal 		City Law SchoolBritishTung Chee-hwaQC
4Patrick Chan Siu-oi, GBM
Litton1 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
Ching1 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 BritishTung Chee-hwaQC
6Robert Tang Kwok-ching, GBM, SBS
Bokhary25 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 Hong KongLeung Chun-yingQC
7Joseph Paul Fok
Chan21 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		BritishLeung Chun-yingSC
8Andrew Cheung Kui-nung
Tang25 October 2018IncumbentDistrict 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 KongCarrie Lam