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Following is the English translation of the opening remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, in moving resolution under Article 73(7) of the Basic Law and Section 7A of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance on the appointment of Non-permanent Hong Kong Judges to the Court of Final Appeal in the Legislative Council today (June 9):
Mr President,
I move that this Council endorses the appointment of the Honourable Mr Justice Robert Tang Ching, the Honourable Mr Justice Frank Stock and the Honourable Mr Justice Michael John Hartmann as non-permanent Hong Kong judges to the Court of Final Appeal (CFA).
Constitutional and legal framework
The CFA is the final appellate court in Hong Kong, hearing both civil and criminal appeals. It consists of the Chief Justice and the permanent judges. Non-permanent judges may be invited to sit. At present, there are 14 non-permanent judges. Three of them come from Hong Kong and 11 come from other common law jurisdictions.
When hearing and determining appeals, the CFA is constituted by five judges, which include the Chief Justice, three permanent judges, and one non-permanent Hong Kong judge or one judge from another common law jurisdiction.
As mentioned earlier when I moved the motion on the appointment of the Chief Justice, the Basic Law and the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission (JORC) Ordinance (Cap. 92) require that judges of the courts of the HKSAR shall be appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of the JORC and that the Chief Executive shall obtain the endorsement of the Legislative Council in the appointment of judges of the CFA.
The current appointments
The JORC has recommended to the Chief Executive the appointment of Mr Justice Tang, Mr Justice Stock and Mr Justice Hartmann as non-permanent Hong Kong judges to the CFA.
The curriculum vitae of the three judges have been set out in the Administration's paper issued to the Legislative Council on April 8, 2010. Mr Justice Tang has great experience in the civil field and had a very successful civil practice. He was appointed as a Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court (CFI Judge) in April 2004, and was appointed as a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court and Vice-President of the Court of Appeal in January 2005 and November 2006 respectively.
Mr Justice Stock was appointed as a CFI Judge and a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court in May 1992 and October 2000 respectively. He was appointed as Vice-President of the Court of Appeal in July 2009. Mr Justice Stock has considerable experience in both criminal and civil cases and has considerable expertise in the growing area of public law.
Mr Justice Hartmann was appointed as a CFI Judge in March 1998 and was elevated to Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court in September 2008. Mr Justice Hartmann has rich experience and expertise in a number of specialised areas of the law, namely family, public and constitutional law.
The three judges are outstanding lawyers who have considerable experience in handling criminal and civil cases. The Chief Executive is pleased to accept the recommendation of the JORC. Their appointments will increase the number of non-permanent Hong Kong judges from three to six and will provide the much-needed flexibility in deployment to deal with the caseload of the CFA. Subject to the endorsement of this Council, the Chief Executive will make the appointments.
In accordance with the procedures previously endorsed by the Legislative Council, the Administration informed the House Committee on April 8, 2010 that the Chief Executive had accepted the recommendation of JORC on the appointments. Representatives from the Administration and the Secretary to the JORC attended the meeting of the Subcommittee on Proposed Senior Judicial Appointments set up under the House Committee on May 4 and responded to members' questions. The Subcommittee supported the proposed appointments. Regarding the concerns of some members over the existing mechanism whereby serving Justices of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court can be appointed as non-permanent Hong Kong judges to the CFA, I would like to point out that the existing mechanism is in line with the relevant provisions of the CFA Ordinance (Cap. 484). I understand that the issue will be discussed by the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services later. The Judiciary and the Administration would be pleased to provide relevant information to the Panel to facilitate its discussion.
I invite members to endorse the appointments.
Ends/Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:29
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