Secretary for Justice

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Template:Short description Template:Use Hong Kong English Template:Use dmy dates

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The secretary for justice (Template:Zh) is the head of the Hong Kong Department of Justice, the chief legal advisor to the chief executive of Hong Kong and the government, and the chief law enforcement officer of the Government of Hong Kong.[1] Before the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the position was known as the Attorney-General of Hong Kong.

The secretary for justice, nominated by the Chinese government on the advice of the chief executive, is an ex officio member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. The secretary takes office after appointment by the Government of the People's Republic of China, which is responsible for Hong Kong's foreign affairs and defence. The secretary for justice also belongs to the Policy Committee, which is chaired by the chief secretary,

The Office of the Secretary for Justice was established by the Hong Kong Basic Law,[2] which guarantees the power of the Department of Justice to control criminal prosecutions free from any interference.[3] The position is normally held by a legal professional, and was, before July 2002, a civil service position. The secretary for justice, after the chief secretary and the financial secretary, is one of the three highest Principal Officials of the Government.

The current secretary for justice is Paul Lam, SBS, SC, JP.

History

Before 1997

Before the 1997 handover to China, the position was known as the attorney general (Template:Zh), and the department was known as the Legal Department (Template:Zh) and was also known as the Attorney General's Chambers (Template:Zh). The attorney general was appointed by the secretary of state in charge of colonial affairs (first the secretary of state for the colonies, later the foreign secretary) in consultation with the Governor.[4]

The office of the attorney general was never localized during British rule and no Hong Kong Chinese ever held this key post.

After 1997

The position was renamed as the secretary for justice upon the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to China. Upon her appointment on 1 July 1997, Elsie Leung became the first woman and first Hong Kong Chinese to hold the post. She was also the second solicitor to serve in the role.

With the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System in 2002, the position has been filled by political appointees instead of civil servants.

Role and duties

Constitutional and statutory duties

Article 63 of the Basic Law empowers the Department of Justice to control all prosecutions, free from interference. As the head of the Department of Justice, the secretary of justice is required to discharge this constitutional duty independently, and has ultimate prosecutorial discretion.[5] However, this discretion is typically exercised by the Director of Public Prosecutions on behalf of the secretary for justice.[6]

The secretary for justice represents the government in all civil lawsuits against it, and as guardian of the public interest, may intervene in any case and bring applications for judicial review to enforce the public interest.

Under Article 53 of the Basic Law, the secretary for justice is the third in line, after the chief secretary and the financial secretary, to act as chief executive when he or she is on leave, outside Hong Kong, or when the position is otherwise temporarily vacant.

The secretary for justice also has a number of ex-officio roles, including being the Chairman of the Law Reform Commission, Vice-Chairman of the Fight Crime Committee, and serves a member on the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Policy Committee, the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission and the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Operations Review Committee.

The secretary for justice ranks fifth in the Hong Kong order of precedence.

Deputies

In the course of discharging his or her duties as the chief legal advisor to the government, the secretary for justice is assisted by five law officers, namely:

(The Administration and Development Division is headed by an Administrative Officer.)

Official residence

The secretary for justice has an official residence at 19 Severn Road, The Peak. The residence was opened in 1934 for the use of the then attorney general of Hong Kong.

List of secretaries and attorneys general

Attorneys general, 1844–1997

No. Portrait Name Took office Left office Notes Ref
1 File:No image.svg Paul Ivy Sterling 1844 1855 First Attorney General (AG) of Hong Kong. Later appointed Puisne Judge in Ceylon 1855 and acting Chief Justice 1860.
2 File:Thomas Chisolm Anstey.jpg Thomas Chisholm Anstey 1855 1859 Former member of British Parliament 1847-1852. Practiced at Bombay bar after retirement.
3 File:William Henry Adams.jpg William Adams 1859 1860 Did not act as AG and was appointed acting Chief Justice immediately on arrival in Hong Kong and then appointed as Chief Justice of Hong Kong.
4 File:Sir John Jackson Smale.jpg Sir John Smale 1860 1866 Appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1866
5 File:Julian Pauncefote Chopped.jpg Sir Julian Pauncefote 1866 1873 Appointed Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands 1874. Later had a very illustrious career in the Foreign Office. Became Lord Pauncefote in 1899.
6 File:Sir John Bramston.jpg Sir John Bramston 1873 1876 Appointed Assistant Under Secretary of State in the Colonial Office 1876.
7 File:Sir George Philippo 1879-1882.jpg Sir George Phillippo 1876 1879 First non-British-born AG, Phillippo was born in Jamaica. He left to become Chief Justice of Gibraltar 1879 to 1882 and returned to appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1882. In 1897 he became British High Consul in Geneva, Switzerland.
8 File:Edward Loughlin O'Malley.png Sir Edward O'Malley 1880 1889 Appointed Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements 1889 and Chief Justice of British Guiana 1895.
9 File:William Meigh Goodman.jpg Sir W. Meigh Goodman, QC/KC 1890 1902 Appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1902.
10 File:Henry Spencer Berkeley.png Sir Henry Spencer Berkeley, KC 1902 1906[7] Previously Chief Justice of Fiji 1889-1902. Retired to practice at Hong Kong bar 1906, but acted as AG in 1909.
11 File:William Rees-Davies.png Sir William Rees-Davies, KC 1907 1912 Appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1912.
12 File:John Bucknill, lawyer and judge.jpg Sir John Bucknill, KC 1912 1914 Appointed Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements 1914 and Puisne Judge of the Patna High Court in Patna, British India 1920.
13 File:Sir Joseph Kemp.jpg Sir Joseph Kemp, KC 1914 1930 Puisne Judge, Hong Kong, prior to appointment 1913-1914. Next appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1930.
14 File:Grenville Alabaster.png Sir C. Grenville Alabaster, KC 1930 1941 Interned in Stanley Internment Camp during World War II and retired after the war.
British administration suspended during Japanese occupation during World War II. Military Government from August 1945 to March 1946.
15 File:John Bowes Griffin.png John Bowes Griffin, KC 1946 1951 Appointed in December 1946. G.E. Strickland, acted as AG before Bowes Griffin's appointment. Bowes Griffin was next appointed Chief Justice of Uganda 1952. Was acting Chief Justice of Northern Rhodesia 1957, Speaker of the Legislative Council in Uganda 1958-1962 and Speaker of the Ugandan National Assembly 1962-1963.
16 File:No image.svg Arthur Ridehalgh, KC/QC 1952 26 November 1961 Last AG to be a KC. Retired on a pension. [8]
17 File:No image.svg Maurice Heenan, QC 4 December 1961 2 September 1966 Non-British-born (born in New Zealand). Crown Counsel prior to appointment. Resigned to join United Nations as Deputy Director of the General Legal Division 1966-1973, then as General Counsel for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees in Beirut 1973-1977. Died in the United States. [9][10]
18 File:No image.svg Denys Roberts, QC 3 September 1966 29 September 1973 Appointed Colonial/Chief Secretary (1973-1979) and then Chief Justice of Hong Kong. Retired on a pension. [10][11]
19 File:No image.svg John Hobley, QC 30 September 1973 3 June 1979 Served as Crown Counsel in Hong Kong 1953-1973, briefly as Attorney General of Bermuda 1972-1973 and Solicitor General of Hong Kong 1973. Retired on a pension in 1979. [11][12]
20 File:No image.svg John Griffiths, QC 4 June 1979 10 June 1983 Last non-British-born AG - born in Persia (now Iran). Entered private practice at the English and Hong Kong bars after retirement until 2012. [12][13]
21 File:No image.svg Michael Thomas, QC 11 June 1983 30 March 1988 Last QC to be AG. Entered private practice at Hong Kong and English bars after retirement. [13][14]
22 File:No image.svg Jeremy Mathews 1 April 1988 30 June 1997 First solicitor to be appointed AG. Last AG. Retired at end of British rule in Hong Kong. [14]

Secretaries for justice, 1997–present

Political party: Template:Legend2

No. Portrait Name Term of office Duration Chief Executive Term Ref
rowspan=3 style="background:Template:Party color" align=center|1 File:Elsie Leung.jpg Elsie Leung Oi-sie
梁愛詩 		1 July 1997 20 October 2005 Template:Age in years and days Tung Chee-hwa
(1997–2005)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		1
2
Donald Tsang
(2005–2012)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		2
rowspan=2 style="background:Template:Party color" align=center|2 File:Wong Yan Lung.jpg Wong Yan-lung, SC
黃仁龍 		20 October 2005 30 June 2012 Template:Age in years and days
3
rowspan=2 style="background:Template:Party color" align=center|3 File:Rimsky Yuen 2016.jpg Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, SC
袁國強 		1 July 2012 5 January 2018 Template:Age in years and days Leung Chun-ying
(2012–2017)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		4
Carrie Lam
(2017–2022)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		5
style="background:Template:Party color" align=center|4 File:港府執意推進《逃犯條例》修法民陣謹慎動員民眾抗爭3 (cropped).jpg Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, SC
鄭若驊 		6 January 2018 30 June 2022 Template:Age in years and days
style="background:Template:Party color" align=center|5 File:Paul Lam 2023.jpg Paul Lam Ting-kwok, SC
林定國 		1 July 2022 Incumbent Template:Age in years and days John Lee
(2022–present)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		6

Deputy secretaries for justice, 2022–present

Political party: Template:Legend2

No. Portrait Name Term of office Duration Chief Executive Term Ref
style="background:Template:Party color" align=center|1 File:Horace Cheung.jpg Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan
張國鈞 		1 July 2022 Incumbent Template:Age in years and days John Lee
(2022–present)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		6

See also

References

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Template:HK Principal Officials Template:Secretary for Justice (Hong Kong)

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Article 53, Hong Kong Basic Law
  3. ↑ Article 63, Hong Kong Basic Law
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