Court of First Instance judge Andrew Cheung Kui-nung has been named the new chief judge of the High Court, succeeding Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, who became Hong Kong's second chief justice in September.
The proposed appointment by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen still needs the Legislative Council's endorsement.
Cheung, 49, is a specialist in judicial reviews and has ruled in a number of high-profile cases relating to constitutional and human rights.
In October, he ruled against an application for a judicial review filed by a transsexual woman hoping to marry a man, arguing that issues such as the definition of marriage and the determination of gender were matters for the legislature and not the courts.
In December 2009, he upheld the constitutionality of corporate votes in Legco's functional constituencies by rejecting applications for judicial reviews filed by two members of the League of Social Democrats, saying that corporate voting was not excluded by the Basic Law.
In another landmark case, he ruled in June that it was unconstitutional for the government to require Hong Kong residents to live continuously in the city for a year before applying for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance. The ruling resulted in the Social Welfare Department's immediate shelving of the requirement on applicants.