Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong

The Chief Justice of Hong Kong or erroneously Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong (Chinese: 首席按察司, later 首席大法官) was the most senior judge in the court system in Hong Kong until 1997.

Supreme Court of Hong Kong

The Supreme Court of Hong Kong existed from 1844 (before the establishment of the court (1841-1844), legal proceedings would likely have been undertaken by the British military courts and commanding officers) when British civilian control of Hong Kong commenced until 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to China. Throughout its existence, only one Chief Justice, Sir Ti-liang Yang, was Chinese by ethnicity (British subject, later BDTC by citizenship); the remainder were all British. Two other Chief Justices, James Russell and Joseph Kemp spoke Chinese.

Renaming of Supreme Court and title in 1997

In 1997 the Supreme Court of Hong Kong was renamed the High Court of Hong Kong. The position was accordingly changed to Chief Judge of the High Court, while the role of head of the Hong Kong Judiciary was assumed by the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal. The Court of Final Appeal was established to replace the role of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as Hong Kong's final appellate court.

List of Pre-1997 Chief Justices

The following table lists former Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong prior to 1997. See the High Court of Hong Kong for a list of Chief Judges of the High Court.

Picture	Name	Tenure	Notes
70px	John Walter Hulme	1844-1860	First Chief Justice of Hong Kong. Practising barrister in England. Retired on a Pension.
	William Henry Adams	1860-1865	Appointed Attorney General of Hong Kong. Immediately acted as Chief Justice due to Hulme being on sick leave. Appointed to substantive position on Hulme's retirement. Died in office.
	Sir John Jackson Smale	1866-1881	Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1861 to 1866. Retired on a pension.
	Sir George Phillippo	1882-1888	Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1876 to 79. Chief Justice of Gibraltar from 1879 to 1882. Retired on a pension.
	Sir James Russell	1888-1892	Puisne Judge of Supreme Court of Hong Kong from 1883 to 1888. Retired due to ill health.
70px	Sir Fielding Clarke	1892-1896	Chief Justice of Fiji prior to appointment. Became Chief Justice of Jamaica.
70px	Sir John Carrington	1896-1901	Attorney General of British Guiana prior to appointment. Retired on a Pension.
	Sir W. Meigh Goodman	1902-1905	Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1889 to 1902. Retired due to ill health.
70px	Sir Francis Piggott	1905-1912	Procureur-General of Mauritius prior to appointment. Compulsorily retired. Commenced practice as junior counsel at bar in Hong Kong.
	Sir William Rees-Davies	1912-1924	Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1907 to 1912. Retired on a pension.
70px	Sir Henry Gollan	1924-1930	Attorney General of Ceylon prior to appointment. Retired on a pension.
70px	Sir Joseph Kemp	1930-1933	Puisne Judge Supreme Court of Hong Kong from 1913 to 1915. Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1915 to 1930. Retired on a pension.
70px	Sir Atholl MacGregor	1934-1945	Attorney General of Kenya prior to appointment. Interned in Stanley Internment Camp, WWII. Died immediately after war en route to England.
Click here	Sir Henry Blackall	1946-1948	Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago prior to appointment. Later was appointed President of the West African Court of Appeals.
	Sir Leslie Gibson	1948-1951	Attorney General of Palestine prior to appointment. Later served as legal adviser to the Foreign Office.
70px	Sir Gerard Howe	1951-1955	Attorney General of Nigeria prior to appointment. Died in office.
Click here	Sir Michael Hogan	1955-1970	Attorney General of Malaya prior to appointment. Picture shows Hogan at opening of 1967 Assizes.
Click here	Sir Ivo Rigby	1970-1973	Senior Puisne Judge, Hong Kong, 1961-1970. Picture shows Rigby heading parade at opening of 1970 Assizes
Click here	Sir Geoffrey Briggs	1973-1978	Puisne Judge, Hong Kong 1965-1973.
Click here	Sir Denys Roberts	1979-1988	Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1966 to 1973. Colonial/Chief Secretary from 1973 to 1979.
Click here	Sir Ti-liang Yang	1988-1996	First Chinese Chief Justice. Resigned to contest position of Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
Click here	Sir Noel Power	1996-1997 (Acting)	Acting CJ pending handover of Hong Kong to China 1997. Vice President of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong.

See also

• Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal
• High Court of Hong Kong
• Supreme Court of Hong Kong
• Attorney General of Hong Kong