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The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:

The Honourable Mr Justice Bokhary, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, has just been appointed an Honorary Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in London.

Honorary Benchers of the Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court in London, include distinguished judges, practitioners and academics.

The Honourable Mr Justice Bokhary is the second member of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal so honoured by the Middle Temple. The Honourable Chief Justice Li was appointed a Honourary Bencher of the Middle Temple in 1997.

The Honourable Mr Justice Bokhary said: "I am greatly honoured by the appointment, and hope that it enhances my ability to contribute to the strengthening of the already strong links between our Judiciary and the English Judiciary."

The Hon Chief Justice was pleased to learn about the election. "Apart from being a personal honour for Mr Justice Bokhary, the appointment is a recognition of the status of the Court of Final Appeal and its judges," he said.

Mr Justice Bokhary was called to the English Bar in 1970 and admitted to the Hong Kong Bar in 1971. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1983. He practised as a Barrister, essentially in the Companies and Commercial fields, in Hong Kong and occasionally before the Privy Council in London from 1971 to 1989. He was appointed to the Hong Kong Judiciary as Judge of the High Court in 1989 and was elevated to the Court of Appeal as a Justice of Appeal in 1993 and to the Court of Final Appeal as a Permanent Judge in 1997.

Mr Justice Bokhary has served the Hong Kong community both in the law and in other fields extensively. He is a past President of the Deportation Tribunal, and chaired the Civil Court Users Committee from 1993 to 1997.

Presently, he is Chairman of the City University of Hong Kong's School of Law Advisory Committee; Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Criminology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong; Member of the Law School Board of the City University of Hong Kong; Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Halsbury's Laws of Hong Kong; Member of the Law Reform Commission since 2000; Honorary Lecturer at the Department of Professional Legal Education of the University of Hong Kong; Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Advocacy Institute of Hong Kong.

Mr Justice Bokhary is married to the Honourable Mrs Justice Verina Bokhary, Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court. They have three daughters.

The Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court in London. The other three Inns are Gray's Inn, the Inner Temple and Lincoln's Inn.

The Honourable Mr Justice Litton, formerly a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal and now a Non-permanent Judge of the Court, was appointed an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn in 1999.

End/Wednesday, October 24, 2001

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