:''For the Court of Final Appeal in
Macau, see
Court of Final Appeal, Macau''.
'The Court of Final Appeal' () is the court with the
final adjudication power on laws of
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the
People's Republic of China .
In the
Hong Kong, the power of final adjudication (
court of last resort) on the Hong Kong law which was vested with the
Privy Council during the
British colonial administration is now vested in the 'Court of Final Appeal' following Hong Kong's handover to the
People's Republic of China in
1997.
Under the
Basic Law, the constitutional document of Hong Kong, the region remains a
common law jurisdiction. Consequently, judges from other common law jurisdictions (including
England and
Wales) can be recruited and continue to serve in the judiciary according to Article 92 of the Basic Law.
On the other hand, the power of interpretation of the Basic Law itself, being part of the national law, is vested in the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China (NPCSC) in accordance with Article 158 of the Basic Law. However, the same Article delegates such power to the courts of Hong Kong for interpretation while handling court cases. Although this arrangement has attracted criticism of "undermining judicial independence", it must be noted that issuing an interpretation does not affect any court judgments already passed. The courts' power of interpretation is necessary for any judicial activities to be carried out. A controversy on the power of interpretation has arisen in the
right of abode issue in
1999.
The court is located in the
Former French Mission Building, in
Central. There are plans to move it to the present Legislative Council building, as it was originally designed to be a lawcourt and has once been the location of the colonial
Supreme Court.
List of judges
| Title and name | Date of birth | Appointed by | Took office | Prior positions |
|---|
| Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal The Hon Mr Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang | December 1948 | Tung Chee-Hwa | 1997 | Deputy (part time) Judge of the District Court of Hong Kong 1982, Justice of the Peace 1985, Deputy High Court Judge 1991, member of the Executive Council at-large 1992 |
★ Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal| The Hon Mr Justice Bokhary | 1947 | Tung Chee-Hwa | 1997 | former Judge of the High Court, Hong Kong Court of Appeal 1993-1997 |
| The Hon Mr Patrick Chan | | Tung Chee-Hwa | 1997 | |
| The Hon Mr Justice Ribeiro | 1949 | Tung Chee-Hwa | 2000 | Recorder of the High Court of Hong Kong 1997, Judge of the High Court 1999, Justice of Appeal and Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal 2000 |
Non-Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal
| Title and name | Date of birth | Appointed by | Took office | Prior positions |
|---|
| Sir Derek Cons | 15 July 1928 Brunei | | | ''President of the Court of Appeals of Brunei'' |
| Mr William James Silke | | | | |
| Mr Kutlu Tekin Fuad | Brunei | | | ''Appellate Court of Brunei'' |
| Hon Mr Philip Gerard Clough | | | | |
| Sir Noel Plunkett Power, GBS | | Tung Chee-Hwa | 1997 | acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong 1996-1997; magistrate, member of the Lands Tribunal, Justice of the High Court (Hong Kong) |
| Hon Mr Gerald Paul Nazareth, GBS | | | | ''Justice of the Court of Appeal of Bermuda'' |
| The Hon Mr John Barry Mortimer, GBS QC | 7 August 1931 | Tung Chee-Hwa | 1997 | High Court Judge from 1985 to 1993, a Justice of Appeal from 1993 to 1997, and from 1997 to 1999 served as Vice President of the Court of Appeal |
| The Hon Mr Henry Denis Litton, GBM | 1934 | Tung Chee-Hwa | 1997 | former Chairman of Hong Kong Bar Association; Vice President of the Court of Appeal 1995 |
| The Hon Sir Anthony Mason | 1925 | Tung Chee-Hwa | 1997 | ''former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales |
| The Rt Hon the Lord Hoffmann of Chedworth | 1934 / | | | ''Law Lord (UK), House of Lords |
| The Hon Sir Gerard Brennan | 1928 | Tung Chee-Hwa | 2000 | ''former Chief Justice of Australia, High Court of Australia; Federal Court of Australia |
| The Rt Hon Sir Thomas Eichelbaum GBE | 1931 / New Zealand | Donald Tsang | 2006 | ''former Chief Justice of New Zealand'' |
| The Rt Hon the Lord Millett | 1932 | Tung Chee-Hwa | 2000 | ''Law Lord, House of Lords (UK)'' |
| The Rt Hon the Lord Woolf of Barnes (Harry Kenneth Woolf) | 1933 | Tung Chee-Hwa | 2003 | ''Law Lord and former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales'' |
| The Rt Hon the Lord Scott of Foscote | 1934 / | Tung Chee-Hwa | 2003 | ''Law Lord (UK), House of Lords (UK)''; High Court of Justice Chancery Division, Lord Justice of Appeal, Vice-Chancellor of the Supreme Court, Head of Civil Justice, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary |
| The Rt Hon Sir Ivor Richardson | 24 May 1930 New Zealand | Tung Chee-Hwa | 2003 | ''former Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington, a former Dean and Professor of Law; has since returned to NZ as Distinguished Fellow at the Law School at the University of Wellington'' |
| Mr Michael McHugh - | 1935 | Donald Tsang | 2005 | ''former justice of the High Court of Australia'' (until 2005) |
See also
★
Supreme Court of Hong Kong
★
Court of Appeal Hong Kong
★
Charles Ching
External links
★ http://www.judiciary.gov.hk/en/crt_services/pphlt/html/cfa.htm
★ http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/hongkong.htm