Appointment of the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal

8 April 2010

(for immediate release)

The Law Society welcomes today’s announcement of the acceptance by the Chief Executive of the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission on the appointment of the Honourable Mr. Justice Geoffrey Ma to succeed Chief Justice Andrew Li as the new Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal with effect from 1 September 2010.

Mr. Justice Ma has a distinguished record of judicial services on the Bench since appointed a Recorder in 2000. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2002; and became the Chief Judge of the High Court (comprising both the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal) in 2003. Over the years, he has been very supportive of the many initiatives of the Law Society on legal education and training and shared with our members in seminars his insights and experience as an advocate and as a judge.

Mr. Justice Ma was heavily engaged in the reform of the civil justice system in Hong Kong and has made significant contributions to the implementation of the Civil Justice Reform on 2 April 2009. He is widely recognized for his dedication, integrity, professionalism and leadership during his term of service as the Chief Judge of the High Court.

The Law Society is confident that Mr. Justice Ma will continue with the good tradition of Chief Justice Andrew Li to head an independent Judiciary upholding the rule of law which is of cardinal importance to Hong Kong under the principle of one country two systems.

For further information, please contact:
Tel: 2846 0520 / 2846 0555