Andrew Cheung

The Honourable Mr Justice Andrew Cheung
張舉能
The Hon. Mr Justice Cheung speaking at a Mediation Conference in 2014
4th Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong
Incumbent
Assumed office June 2011
Appointed by	Donald Tsang
Preceded by	Geoffrey Ma
Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court of Hong Kong
In office 2003–2011
Deputy Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong
In office 2001–2003
Judge of the District Court of Hong Kong
In office 2001–2003
Personal details
Born	(1961-09-24) September 24, 1961 British Hong Kong
Nationality	Hong Kong
Alma mater	Harvard Law School University of Hong Kong
Occupation	Judge
Profession	Barrister

The Honourable Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung (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. Between 2001 and 2011, he held various positions in the judiciary of Hong Kong, including Judge of the Court of First Instance and Deputy High Court Judge. A graduate of the University of Hong Kong and 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.

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.^[1] Upon leaving Harvard, Cheung returned to Hong Kong and joined the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong, where he served briefly as a Demonstrator and Lecturer on a part-time basis.^[2]

Legal career

The bar: 1985–2001

Cheung was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 1985 and began private practice the following year, specialising in civil law;^[3] in 1995, he was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore.^[1] 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.^[1] His tenure was marked by a number of high-profile rulings relating to constitutional and human rights matters^[4].

In June 2011, on the recommendation of Chief Executive Donald Tsang, and with the full endorsement of the Legislative Council, Cheung succeeded Geoffrey Ma as the Chief Judge of the High Court and President of the Court of Appeal,^[5][6] making him the fourth local judge to hold this position.

Since 2010, Cheung 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.^[1]

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.^[7] 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.^[8] The appointment was also welcomed by Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma as well as the then Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung.^[9] 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'.^[10]

References