Andrew Cheung
Hong Kong judge and head of the judiciary
title: "Andrew Cheung" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["living-people", "1961-births", "alumni-of-the-university-of-hong-kong", "harvard-law-school-alumni", "chief-justices-of-the-court-of-final-appeal-(hong-kong)"] description: "Hong Kong judge and head of the judiciary" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cheung" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Hong Kong judge and head of the judiciary ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| honorific-prefix | The Honourable Chief Justice |
| name | Andrew Cheung Kui-nung |
| native_name | 張舉能 |
| native_name_lang | zh-hk |
| honorific-suffix | |
| image | Andrew Cheung Kui-nung meet with press 20210111 (cropped).png |
| caption | Cheung on 11 January 2021 |
| office | 3rd Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong |
| term_start | 11 January 2021 |
| appointer | Carrie Lam |
| predecessor | Geoffrey Ma |
| office2 | Designated National Security Law Judge |
| term_start2 | 2020 |
| appointer2 | Carrie Lam |
| office3 | Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal |
| term_start3 | 25 October 2018 |
| term_end3 | 11 January 2021 |
| appointer3 | Carrie Lam |
| predecessor3 | Robert Tang |
| office4 | 4th Chief Judge of the High Court |
| term_start4 | 20 June 2011 |
| term_end4 | 24 October 2018 |
| appointer4 | Donald Tsang |
| predecessor4 | Geoffrey Ma |
| successor4 | Jeremy Poon |
| office5 | Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court |
| term_start5 | 2003 |
| term_end5 | 2011 |
| office6 | Deputy High Court Judge |
| term_start6 | 2001 |
| term_end6 | 2003 |
| office7 | Judge of the District Court |
| term_start7 | 2001 |
| term_end7 | 2003 |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | British Hong Kong |
| nationality | Chinese |
| occupation | Judge |
| profession | Barrister |
| alma_mater | University of Hong Kong |
| Harvard University | |
| :: |
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable Chief Justice | name = Andrew Cheung Kui-nung | native_name = 張舉能 | native_name_lang = zh-hk | honorific-suffix = | image = Andrew Cheung Kui-nung meet with press 20210111 (cropped).png | caption = Cheung on 11 January 2021 | office = 3rd Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong | term_start = 11 January 2021 | term_end = | nominator = | appointer = Carrie Lam | predecessor = Geoffrey Ma | successor = | office2 = Designated National Security Law Judge | term_start2 = 2020 | term_end2 = | appointer2 = Carrie Lam | office3 = Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal | term_start3 = 25 October 2018 | term_end3 = 11 January 2021 | nominator3 = | appointer3 = Carrie Lam | predecessor3 = Robert Tang | successor3 = | office4 = 4th Chief Judge of the High Court | term_start4 = 20 June 2011 | term_end4 = 24 October 2018 | nominator4 = | appointer4 = Donald Tsang | predecessor4 = Geoffrey Ma | successor4 = Jeremy Poon | office5 = Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court | term_start5 = 2003 | term_end5 = 2011 | nominator5 = | appointer5 = | predecessor5 = | successor5 = | office6 = Deputy High Court Judge | term_start6 = 2001 | term_end6 = 2003 | office7 = Judge of the District Court | term_start7 = 2001 | term_end7 = 2003 | birth_date = | birth_place = British Hong Kong | nationality = Chinese | spouse = | relations = | religion = | occupation = Judge | profession = Barrister | alma_mater = University of Hong Kong Harvard University | order = ts | t = 張舉能 | s = 张举能 | j = Zoeng1 Geoi2 Nang4 | p = Zhāng Jǔnéng Andrew Cheung Kui-nung (; born 24 September 1961) is a Hong Kong judge who serves as the 3rd Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal. He previously served as a Permanent Judge of the same court. He was the 4th and longest-serving Chief Judge of the High Court.
Early life
Born in Hong Kong on 24 September 1961, Cheung attended Ying Wa College, before reading law at the University of Hong Kong and taking a Master of Laws degree at Harvard Law School in the United States. Cheung served briefly as a Lecturer and Demonstrator of the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong on a part-time basis after graduation.
Legal career
The Bar: 1985–2001
Cheung was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 1985 as a pupil of Audrey Eu and began private practice the following year in the chambers of Henry Litton. His practice mainly involved civil and commercial cases. In 1995, he was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore.
The bench: 2001–
Cheung was appointed to the bench in 2001 as a judge of the District Court of Hong Kong. Sitting first as a Deputy High Court Judge in December 2001, he was soon elevated to the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 2003. He was then appointed as the Probate Judge in 2004, before becoming the Judge in charge of the Constitutional and Administrative Law List of the High Court in 2008. His tenure was marked by a number of high-profile rulings relating to constitutional and human rights matters.
In June 2011, Cheung succeeded Geoffrey Ma as the Chief Judge of the High Court and President of the Court of Appeal, making him the fourth local judge to hold this position. In his speech to the Legislative Council moving the resolution to endorse Cheung's appointment, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr. Henry Tang, described Cheung as an outstanding lawyer with the ability to handle difficult and complex cases and the potential of being a good administrator of the High Court.
He was elected an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 2017.
On 21 March 2018, the Judiciary announced his appointment as a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal with effect from 25 October 2018, succeeding Robert Tang. Cheung's appointment was accompanied by the appointments of Baroness Hale and Beverley McLachlin as Non-Permanent Judges of the city's top court. He held the office of Chief Judge of the High Court for 7 years, 127 days – the longest serving of the four judges who had served in the role.
Cheung is a member of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission, which makes recommendations to the Chief Executive on judicial appointments. He is a member of the Law Reform Commission and also chairs or is a member of various committees and working parties within the Judiciary.
Cheung was announced as the 3rd Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal on 24 March 2020, succeeding Geoffrey Ma. His appointment took effect on 11 January 2021. He is the first local law graduate to be appointed Hong Kong's Chief Justice.
In May 2023, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) of the United States Congress suggested the United States government imposing sanctions on Cheung to counter the erosion of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong over his handling of Jimmy Lai's national security law case.
References
|alongside=Robert Ribeiro, Joseph Fok |years=2018–2021}}
References
- (11 April 2011). "Annex Curriculum Vitae". [[Government of Hong Kong]].
- (21 August 2003). "Judicial Appointment". Government of Hong Kong.
- (2020-03-25). "Next chief justice will preside over cases involving key constitutional disputes".
- "HKU Law congratulates the first homegrown Chief Justice of the HKSAR – Andrew Cheung {{!}} Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong".
- (6 March 1994). "QC 'hit parade' comes under fire".
- (12 April 2011). "Andrew Cheung named as new chief judge". South China Morning Post.
- "Notable CFI Judgments".
- (12 April 2011). "Cheung named next chief of High Court". [[The Standard (Hong Kong).
- (24 June 2011). "Government Notice No.3932, Gazette 2011 Vol.15 No.25". [[Government of Hong Kong]].
- "Speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration at the meeting of the Legislative Council on 8 June 2011".
- eveb. "List of Benchers".
- "Top court gets new judges". The Standard.
- "JORC Report 2015".
- "Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal – The Permanent Judges – The Honourable Mr Justice Andrew CHEUNG Kui-nung".
- "Civil And Miscellaneous Lists : Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission". Government of Hong Kong.
- (10 May 2023). "ONE CITY, TWO LEGAL SYSTEMS: HONG KONG JUDGES’ ROLE IN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS UNDER THE NATIONAL SECURITY LAW". Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
- (1 February 2021). "No bail should be granted to defendants charged under national security law, says prosecutor". The Standard.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::