Following the tradition, the year began with the Ceremonial Opening of the Legal Year on 13 January, at which the Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA spoke about how the work undertaken by the courts mirrored society. He said many of the difficult cases dealt with by the courts in 2013 were in public law matters. He emphasized that it was not part of the courts’ role to decide on any aspect other than the legal issues which arose. He said that central to the administration of justice was the quality of judges. He explained how the Judiciary appointed only persons of the highest calibre as judges. The newly set up Hong Kong Judicial Institute would provide a more formalized, hands-on and practical system of judicial education and continuing legal education for judges. He also mentioned that he had raised with the Chief Executive the question of more space for the Judiciary and the need for adequate resources, and that the Government had been receptive to enter into a meaningful dialogue in relation to these topics. He also paid tribute to the Hon Mr Justice Patrick Chan, who had retired from the Court of Final Appeal in October 2013.

In 2014, our Judges and Judicial Officers attended various conferences and seminars for exchanges with their counterparts from other jurisdictions. In particular, the Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey MA attended the Second Rule of Law Symposium in Singapore in May and the International Malaysia Law Conference in Kuala Lumpur in September.

Many judicial appointments took effect in the year 2014. Most notable were the appointment of the Hon Mr Justice Ian McWALTERS as a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court and the appointment of Mr Anderson CHOW, SC as a Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court.

In 2014, the overall performance was satisfactory, save for the High Court. The majority of the performance targets at various levels of courts were achieved. A few targets in the High Court were however not met. There are a number of reasons for this. First, there are insufficient judicial posts in the High Court, in particular the Court of Appeal of the High Court, to cater for the operational needs of the High Court. Secondly, the High Court has been experiencing some constraints in the deployment of judicial manpower as a result of elevation of Judges to higher positions and retirement of Judges over the past years. The Judiciary will continue to take the necessary measures to improve the situation, including seeking to create three Justices of Appeal posts and one Judge of the Court of First Instance post and conducting another recruitment exercise for the Judges of the Court of First Instance in October 2014.

The Chief Justice appointed Judges and Judicial Officers and invited representatives from the legal profession and relevant government departments to sit on a number of boards and committees to contribute valuable views to issues that are important to the operation of the Judiciary. These boards and committees include the Civil Justice Reform Monitoring Committee, Working Party on Mediation, Civil Court Users’ Committee, Criminal Court Users’ Committee， Family Court Users’ Committee, Competition Tribunal Users’ Committee and the Governing Body of the Hong Kong Judicial Institute.

In 2014, the Judiciary arranged about 230 visits for more than 6800 visitors. Among all, most visitors are local students. We treasure all opportunities to meet with visitors and introduce to them the work of the Judiciary.

You are cordially invited to visit our Photo Gallery for various memorable moments of the Judiciary in 2014.