LCQ13: Appointment of overseas judges and their attendance at hearings

     Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Leung and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (November 4):
 
Question:
 
     Under the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484) and the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission Ordinance (Cap. 92), the Chief Executive may, on the recommendations of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission and upon the endorsements of the Legislative Council, appoint judges from the common law jurisdictions outside Hong Kong as non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions of the Court of Final Appeal (overseas judges). Regarding the appointment of overseas judges and their attendance at hearings, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
 
(1) in respect of each of the overseas judges appointed since July 1, 1997, (i) the judge's name, (ii) the judge's age at the time of first appointment, (iii) the common law jurisdiction to which the judge belongs/belonged, (iv) the date on which the judge was first appointed, and (v) the expiry date of the judge's most recent appointment (set out in a table);
 
(2) whether, in the past five years, there were candidates for overseas judges who declined the appointment; if so, the number of such candidates and the reasons for their declination; and
 
(3) as the Government has indicated that since July 1, 1997, apart from very few exceptions, a judge has invariably been drawn from the list of overseas judges to hear a substantive appeal on the Court of Final Appeal, the number of such exceptions and the details of the cases concerned, as well as the causes for such exceptions?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Based on the information provided by the Judiciary, the Government’s reply is as follows:
 
(1) The particulars of all non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions of the Court of Final Appeal (CLNPJs) appointed since the establishment of the Court of Final Appeal on July 1, 1997 are as follows:
 

Former CLNPJs Age on Appointment Common Law Jurisdiction Date of First Appointment Expiry Date of
Appointment
The Honourable
Sir Anthony Mason
72 Australia July 28, 1997 July 27, 2015
The Right Honourable
the Lord Cooke of
Thorndon
71 New Zealand July 28, 1997 July 27, 2006
The Right Honourable
Sir Edward Somers
68 New Zealand July 28, 1997 July 27, 2003*
The Honourable
Sir Daryl Dawson
63 Australia September 1, 1997 August 31, 2003
The Right Honourable
the Lord Nicholls of
Birkenhead
64 United Kingdom January 12, 1998 January 11, 2004
The Honourable
Sir Gerard Brennan
72 Australia July 28, 2000 July 27, 2012
The Right Honourable
Sir Thomas
Eichelbaum
69 New Zealand July 28, 2000 July 27, 2009
The Right Honourable
the Lord Woolf of
Barnes
70 United Kingdom July 28, 2003 July 27, 2012
The Right Honourable
the Lord Scott of
Foscote
68 United Kingdom July 28, 2003 July 27, 2012
The Right Honourable
Sir Ivor Richardson
73 New Zealand July 28, 2003 July 27, 2009
Mr Michael McHugh 70 Australia July 1, 2006 June 30, 2012
The Right Honourable
Sir Thomas Munro
Gault
67 New Zealand July 1, 2006 June 30, 2015#
The Right Honourable
the Lord Clarke of
Stone-cum-Ebony
68 United Kingdom June 30, 2011 June 29, 2020
Mr James Spigelman 67 Australia July 29, 2013 September 1, 2020

*Sir Edward passed away in June 2002.
#Sir Thomas passed away in May 2015.
 

Serving CLNPJs Age on Appointment Common Law Jurisdiction Date of First Appointment Expiry Date
of Present Appointment
The Right Honourable
the Lord Hoffmann
63 United Kingdom January 12, 1998 January 11, 2022
The Right Honourable the Lord Millett 68 United Kingdom July 28, 2000 July 27, 2021
The Honourable Mr Justice Murray Gleeson 70 Australia March 1, 2009 February 28, 2021
The Right Honourable the Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury 61 United Kingdom March 1, 2009 February 28, 2021
The Right Honourable the Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe 70 United Kingdom March 1, 2009 February 28, 2021
The Right Honourable the Lord Collins of Mapesbury 70 United Kingdom June 30, 2011 June 29, 2023
The Right Honourable the Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers 74 United Kingdom October 1, 2012 September 30, 2021
The Honourable Mr Justice William Gummow 70 Australia July 29, 2013 July 28, 2022
The Honourable Mr Justice Robert French 70 Australia May 31, 2017 May 30, 2023
The Right Honourable
Lord Reed of Allermuir
60 United Kingdom May 31, 2017 May 30, 2023
The Right Honourable the Baroness Hale of Richmond 73 United Kingdom July 30, 2018 July 29, 2021
The Right Honourable Madam Justice Beverley McLachlin 74 Canada July 30, 2018 July 29, 2021
The Right Honourable
Lord Sumption
71 United Kingdom December 18, 2019 December 17, 2022

(2) In the past five years, no overseas judge refused to accept appointment as CLNPJ.
 
(3) According to section 16 of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484) (the Ordinance), all appeals shall be heard and determined by the Court, which is constituted by five judges as follows:
 
(a) the Chief Justice or a Permanent Judge (PJ) designated to sit in his place under the Ordinance;
 
(b) three PJs nominated by the Chief Justice; and
 
(c) one non-permanent Hong Kong judge or one CLNPJ (selected by the Chief Justice and invited by the Court).
 
     As at September 30, 2020, the Court of Final Appeal has heard around 700 substantive appeals since July 1, 1997. With the exception of around ten cases, a judge has invariably been drawn from the list of CLNPJs to sit on the Court. These exceptional occasions were mainly due to the unavailability of the CLNPJs at the scheduled hearing dates or because there were unforeseen circumstances which rendered it not possible for the CLNPJs to hear the appeals as planned.