# Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong

The chief justice of Hong Kong was, until 1997, the chief judge (Chinese: 首席按察司, later 首席大法官) of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong and the most senior judge in the court system.

## 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. Only the last chief justice, Sir Ti-liang Yang, was Chinese by ethnicity (British subject, later a British Dependent Territory citizen); the remainder were all British or Irish, two of whom, Sir James Russell and Sir Joseph H. Kemp, both Irishmen, 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.
| No. | Chief Justice | Term of office | Appointer | Remarks |
| 1 | John Walter Hulme | 1844–1860 | Sir John Francis Davis | First Chief Justice of Hong Kong in 1844. Practising barrister in England. Retired on a Pension. |
| 2 | William Henry Adams | 1860–1865 | Sir Hercules Robinson | Appointed Attorney General of Hong Kong in 1859. Immediately acted as Chief Justice due to Hulme being on sick leave in 1859. Appointed to substantive position on Hulme's retirement. Died in office. |
| 3 | Sir John Jackson Smale | 1866–1881 | Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell | Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1861 to 1866. Retired on a pension. |
| 4 | Sir George Phillippo | 1882–1888 | Malcolm Struan Tonnochy | Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1876 to 79. Chief Justice of Gibraltar from 1879 to 1882. Retired on a pension. |
| 5 | Sir James Russell | 1888–1892 | Sir William Des Voeux | Puisne Judge of Supreme Court of Hong Kong from 1883 to 1888. Retired due to ill health. |
| 6 | Sir Fielding Clarke | 1892–1896 | Sir William Robinson | Chief Judicial Commissioner, Western Pacific (1882 to 1883 and 1884),Chief Justice of Fiji (1881-1885) prior to appointment. Became Chief Justice of Jamaica 1896-1911. |
| 7 | Sir John Worrell Carrington | 1896–1901 | Sir William Robinson | Solicitor General of Barbados and acted as Attorney General (1878-1881), Chief Justice of St. Lucia and Tobago (1882-1889), Administered the Government of Tobago (1883-1885), Acting Chief Justice of Grenada (1886), Attorney General British Guiana (1889-1896). Retired from Hong Kong on a pension. |
| 8 | Sir William Meigh Goodman | 1902–1905 | Sir Henry Arthur Blake | Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1889 to 1902. Former solicitor General of Barbados in 1878 to 1882, Chief Justice of St Lucia and Tobago 1882 to 1889 and Administrator of Tobago from 1883 to 1885. Retired due to ill health. |
| 9 | Sir Francis Piggott | 1905–1912 | Sir Matthew Nathan | Procureur-General of Mauritius 1893-1904 prior to appointment. Compulsorily retired. Commenced practice as junior counsel at bar in Hong Kong 1912-1914. |
| 10 | Sir William Rees-Davies | 1912–1924 | Claud Severn | Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1907 to 1912. Retired on a pension. |
| 11 | Sir Henry Gollan | 1924–1930 | Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs | Chief Justice of Bermuda (1904-1911), Attorney General of Ceylon (1918-1924) prior to appointment. Member of the Full Court of the British Supreme Court for China in Shanghai 1926-1930. Retired on a pension in 1930. |
| 12 | Sir Joseph H. Kemp | 1930–1933 | Thomas Southorn | Puisne Judge Supreme Court of Hong Kong from 1913 to 1915. Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1915 to 1930. Retired on a pension. |
| 13 | Sir Atholl MacGregor | 1934–1945 | Sir William Peel | Attorney General of Trinidad (1926-1929) and Kenya (1929-1933) prior to appointment. Interned in Stanley Internment Camp, WWII. Died immediately after war en route to England. |
| 14 | Sir Henry Blackall | 1946–1948 | Sir Mark Young | Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago (1943-1946) prior to appointment. Later was appointed President of the West African Court of Appeals (1948-1951). |
| 15 | Sir Leslie Gibson | 1948–1951 | Sir Alexander Grantham | Attorney General of Trinidad (1940-1944), Attorney General of Palestine (1944-1948) prior to appointment. Later served as legal adviser to the Foreign Office. |
| 16 | Sir Gerard Howe | 1951–1955 | Sir Alexander Grantham | Solicitor General in Nigeria (1941-1946), Attorney General of Nigeria (1946-1950) prior to appointment. Died in office. |
| 17 | Sir Michael Hogan | 1955–1970 | Sir Alexander Grantham | Attorney General in Aden (1944-1945), Attorney General of Malaya (1950-1955) prior to appointment. Picture shows Hogan at opening of 1967 Assizes. |
| 18 | Sir Ivo Rigby | 1970–1973 | Sir David C.C. Trench | Senior Puisne Judge, Hong Kong, 1961-1970. Picture shows Rigby heading parade at opening of 1970 Assizes |
| 19 | Sir Geoffrey Briggs | 1973–1978 | Sir Murray MacLehose | Puisne Judge, Hong Kong 1965-1973. |
| 20 | Sir Denys Roberts | 1979–1988 | Sir Murray MacLehose | Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1966 to 1973. Colonial/Chief Secretary from 1973 to 1979. |
| 21 | Sir Ti-liang Yang | 1988–1996 | Sir David Wilson | First Chinese Chief Justice. Resigned to contest position of Chief Executive of Hong Kong. |
| – | Sir Noel Power | 1996–1997 Acting | Chris Patten | Acting CJ pending handover of Hong Kong to China 1997. Vice President of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong. Later Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court (1997-1999), Justice of the Court of Appeal of Brunei Darussalam (2003-2007) and as President (2007-2009). |