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Secretary for Justice

Chief legal adviser to the government of Hong Kong

Field	Value
post	Secretary for Justice
body	the
Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region
insignia	Regional Emblem of Hong Kong.svg
insigniasize	100px
insigniacaption	Emblem of Hong Kong
image	Paul Lam 2023.jpg
incumbent	The Hon Paul Lam, GBS, SC, JP
incumbentsince	1 July 2022
style	The Honourable
member_of	Government Secretariat
Executive Council
reports_to	Legislative Council
residence	19 Severn Road, The Peak
appointer	Central People's Government
appointer_qualified	nomination by Chief Executive
termlength	No longer than the Chief Executive's remaining term
formation	1 July 1997
inaugural	Elsie Leung
website	DOJ
salary	HK$4.2 million p.a.
native_name	律政司司長

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Executive Council

The secretary for justice () is the head of the Hong Kong Department of Justice, the chief legal advisor to the chief executive of Hong Kong and the government, and the chief law enforcement officer of the Government of Hong Kong. Before the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the position was known as the Attorney-General of Hong Kong.

Like all other principal officials, the secretary for justice is appointed by the Central Government on the nomination of the Chief Executive, and is an official member of the Executive Council. The position is normally held by a legal professional, and was before July 2002 a civil service position. The secretary for justice, after the chief secretary and the financial secretary, is the third highest ranking principal official of the Government.

The current secretary for justice is Paul Lam, GBS, SC, JP.

History

Before 1997

Before the 1997 handover to China, the position was known as the attorney general (), and the department was known as the Legal Department () and was also known as the Attorney General's Chambers (). The attorney general was appointed by the secretary of state in charge of colonial affairs (first the secretary of state for the colonies, later the foreign secretary) in consultation with the Governor.

The office of the attorney general was never localized during British rule and no Hong Kong Chinese ever held this key post.

After 1997

The position was renamed as the secretary for justice upon the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to China. Upon her appointment on 1 July 1997, Elsie Leung became the first woman and first Hong Kong Chinese to hold the post. She was also the second solicitor to serve in the role.

With the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System in 2002, the position has been filled by political appointees instead of civil servants.

Role and duties

Constitutional and statutory duties

Article 63 of the Basic Law empowers the Department of Justice to control all prosecutions, free from interference. As the head of the Department of Justice, the secretary of justice is required to discharge this constitutional duty independently, and has ultimate prosecutorial discretion. However, this discretion is typically exercised by the Director of Public Prosecutions on behalf of the secretary for justice.

The secretary for justice represents the government in all civil lawsuits against it, and as guardian of the public interest, may intervene in any case and bring applications for judicial review to enforce the public interest.

Under Article 53 of the Basic Law, the secretary for justice is the third in line, after the chief secretary and the financial secretary, to act as chief executive when he or she is on leave, outside Hong Kong, or when the position is otherwise temporarily vacant.

The secretary for justice also has a number of ex-officio roles, including being the Chairman of the Law Reform Commission, Vice-Chairman of the Fight Crime Committee, and serves a member on the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Policy Committee, the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission and the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Operations Review Committee.

The secretary for justice ranks fifth in the Hong Kong order of precedence.

Deputies

In the course of discharging his or her duties as the chief legal advisor to the government, the secretary for justice is assisted by six law officers, namely:

the Solicitor General who heads the Constitutional and Policy Affairs Division,
the Director of Public Prosecutions who heads the Prosecutions Division,
the Law Officer (Civil Law) (formerly the Crown Solicitor) who heads the Civil Law Division,
the Law Officer (International Law) who heads the International Law Division,
the Law Draftsman who heads the Law Drafting Division, and
the Law Officer (National Security) who heads the National Security Prosecutions Division

(The Administration and Development Division is headed by an Administrative Officer.)

Official residence

The secretary for justice has an official residence at 19 Severn Road, The Peak. The residence was opened in 1934 for the use of the then attorney general of Hong Kong.

List of secretaries and attorneys general

Attorneys general, 1844–1997

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Notes	Ref
1	[[File:No image.svg	80px]]	Paul Ivy Sterling	28 July 1844	15 April 1855	First Attorney General (AG) of Hong Kong. Later appointed Puisne Judge in Ceylon 1855 and acting Chief Justice 1860.
2	[[File:Thomas Chisolm Anstey.jpg	80px]]	Thomas Chisholm Anstey	30 January 1855	30 January 1859	Former member of British Parliament 1847-1852. Practiced at Bombay bar after retirement.
3	[[File:William Henry Adams.jpg	80px]]	William Adams	7 September 1859	24 August 1860	Did not act as AG and was appointed acting Chief Justice immediately on arrival in Hong Kong and then appointed as Chief Justice of Hong Kong.
4	[[File:Sir John Jackson Smale.jpg	80px]]	Sir John Smale	22 April 1861	23 October 1866	Appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1866
5	[[File:Julian Pauncefote Chopped.jpg	80px]]	Sir Julian Pauncefote	1866	1873	Appointed Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands 1874. Later had a very illustrious career in the Foreign Office. Became Lord Pauncefote in 1899.
6	[[File:Sir John Bramston.jpg	80px]]	Sir John Bramston	1873	1876	Appointed Assistant Under Secretary of State in the Colonial Office 1876.
7	[[File:Sir George Philippo 1879-1882.jpg	80px]]	Sir George Phillippo	1876	1879	First non-British-born AG, Phillippo was born in Jamaica. He left to become Chief Justice of Gibraltar 1879 to 1882 and returned to appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1882. In 1897 he became British High Consul in Geneva, Switzerland.
8	[[File:Edward Loughlin O'Malley.png	80px]]	Sir Edward O'Malley	1880	1889	Appointed Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements 1889 and Chief Justice of British Guiana 1895.
9	[[File:William Meigh Goodman.jpg	80px]]	Sir W. Meigh Goodman, QC/KC	1890	1902	Appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1902.
10	[[File:Henry Spencer Berkeley.png	80px]]	Sir Henry Spencer Berkeley, KC	2 May 1902{{London Gazette	issue = 27478	date = 30 September 1902	page = 6209
11	[[File:William Rees-Davies.png	80px]]	Sir William Rees-Davies, KC	1907	1912	Appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1912.
12	[[File:John Bucknill, lawyer and judge.jpg	80px]]	Sir John Bucknill, KC	1912	1914	Appointed Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements 1914 and Puisne Judge of the Patna High Court in Patna, British India 1920.
13	[[File:Sir Joseph Kemp.jpg	80px]]	Sir Joseph Kemp, KC	1914	1930	Puisne Judge, Hong Kong, prior to appointment 1913-1914. Next appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1930.
14	[[File:Grenville_Alabaster.png	80px]]	Sir C. Grenville Alabaster, KC	1930	1941	Interned in Stanley Internment Camp during World War II and retired after the war.
British administration suspended during Japanese occupation during World War II. Military Government from August 1945 to March 1946.
15	[[File:John Bowes Griffin.png	80px]]	John Bowes Griffin, KC	1 December 1946	12 May 1952	Appointed in December 1946. G.E. Strickland, acted as AG before Bowes Griffin's appointment. Bowes Griffin was next appointed Chief Justice of Uganda 1952. Was acting Chief Justice of Northern Rhodesia 1957, Speaker of the Legislative Council in Uganda 1958-1962 and Speaker of the Ugandan National Assembly 1962-1963.
16	[[File:no image.svg	80px]]	Arthur Ridehalgh, KC/QC	22 August 1952	26 November 1961	Last AG to be a KC. Retired on a pension.	title=G.N. 2093 of 1961	journal=Hong Kong Government Gazette	date=1 December 1961	volume=103	page=3108}}
17	[[File:no image.svg	80px]]	Maurice Heenan, QC	4 December 1961	2 September 1966	Non-British-born (born in New Zealand). Crown Counsel prior to appointment. Resigned to join United Nations as Deputy Director of the General Legal Division 1966-1973, then as General Counsel for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees in Beirut 1973-1977. Died in the United States.	title=G.N. 586 of 1962	journal=Hong Kong Government Gazette	date=23 March 1962	volume=104	page=1116}}
18	[[File:no image.svg	80px]]	Denys Roberts, QC	3 September 1966	29 September 1973	Appointed Colonial/Chief Secretary (1973-1979) and then Chief Justice of Hong Kong. Retired on a pension.	title=G.N. 2559 of 1973	journal=Hong Kong Government Gazette	date=5 October 1973	volume=115	page=3839}}
19	[[File:no image.svg	80px]]	John Hobley, QC	30 September 1973	3 June 1979	Served as Crown Counsel in Hong Kong 1953-1973, briefly as Attorney General of Bermuda 1972-1973 and Solicitor General of Hong Kong 1973. Retired on a pension in 1979.	title=G.N. 1384 of 1979	journal=Hong Kong Government Gazette	date=8 June 1979	volume=121	page=1681}}
20	[[File:no image.svg	80px]]	John Griffiths, QC	4 June 1979	10 June 1983	Last non-British-born AG - born in Persia (now Iran). Entered private practice at the English and Hong Kong bars after retirement until 2012.	title=G.N. 1773 of 1983	journal=Hong Kong Government Gazette	date=10 August 1983	volume=125	page=2825}}
21	[[File:no image.svg	80px]]	Michael Thomas, QC	11 June 1983	30 March 1988	Last QC to be AG. Entered private practice at Hong Kong and English bars after retirement.	title=G.N. 1082 of 1988	journal=Hong Kong Government Gazette	date=10 August 1988	volume=130	page=1521}}
22	[[File:no image.svg	80px]]	Jeremy Mathews	1 April 1988	30 June 1997	First solicitor to be appointed AG. Last AG. Retired at end of British rule in Hong Kong.

Secretaries for justice, 1997–present

Political party:

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office	Duration
Nonpartisan}}" align=center	1	[[File:Elsie Leung.jpg	80px]]	Elsie Leung Oi-sie
梁愛詩	1 July 1997	20 October 2005		Tung Chee-hwa
(1997–2005)	1
2
Donald Tsang
(2005–2012)	2
Nonpartisan}}" align=center	2	[[File:Wong Yan Lung.jpg	80px]]	Wong Yan-lung, SC
黃仁龍	20 October 2005	30 June 2012
3
Nonpartisan}}" align=center	3	[[File:Rimsky Yuen 2016.jpg	80px]]	Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, SC
袁國強	1 July 2012	5 January 2018		Leung Chun-ying
(2012–2017)	4
Carrie Lam
(2017–2022)	5
Nonpartisan}}" align=center	4	[[File:港府執意推進《逃犯條例》修法民陣謹慎動員民眾抗爭3 (cropped).jpg	80px]]	Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, SC
鄭若驊	6 January 2018	30 June 2022
Nonpartisan}}" align=center	5	[[File:Paul Lam 2023.jpg	80px]]	Paul Lam Ting-kwok, SC
林定國	1 July 2022	Incumbent		John Lee
(2022–present)	6

Deputy secretaries for justice, 2022–present

Political party:

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office	Duration
Nonpartisan}}" align=center	1	[[File:Horace_Cheung.jpg	80px]]	Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan
張國鈞	1 July 2022	Incumbent		John Lee
(2022–present)	6

References

"Remuneration package for Politically Appointed Officials serving in fifth-term HKSAR Government".
"Department of Justice - DOJ2015 - Introduction - The role of the Secretary for Justice".
"Legal system in Hong Kong".
Hong Kong Department of Justice. "Prosecutorial Independence - Continuity and Development".
"Department of Justice - About Us - Organisation - Prosecutions Division".
"Legal system in Hong Kong".
(1 December 1961). "G.N. 2093 of 1961". [[Hong Kong Government Gazette]].
(23 March 1962). "G.N. 586 of 1962". [[Hong Kong Government Gazette]].
(9 September 1966). "G.N. 2282 of 1966". [[Hong Kong Government Gazette]].
(5 October 1973). "G.N. 2559 of 1973". [[Hong Kong Government Gazette]].
(8 June 1979). "G.N. 1384 of 1979". [[Hong Kong Government Gazette]].
(10 August 1983). "G.N. 1773 of 1983". [[Hong Kong Government Gazette]].
(10 August 1988). "G.N. 1082 of 1988". [[Hong Kong Government Gazette]].

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