Hong Kong’s next chief justice Andrew Cheung will have to deal with several cases involving key constitutional disputes
- The city’s incoming top judge is viewed as competent but conservative
- In his past judgments, he had defended the heterosexual marriage system although he had also ruled some key social policies as discriminatory
Hong Kong’s incoming top judge is widely regarded within the legal profession as a competent yet conservative member of the judiciary, according to fellow lawyers who had worked or studied with him.
Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nang, 58, will be tasked to lead the top court through an increasing number of cases of constitutional importance, which comes at time when Beijing is increasingly vocal about the city’s legal system.
Cheung will be the first “home-grown” chief justice, succeeding incumbent Geoffrey Ma Tao-li from next January, pending the legislature’s approval.
Cheung, who graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1983 and obtained his postgraduate certificate in law there the next year, was admitted as a barrister in 1985.
His classmates in the same year included Mr Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon, High Court’s vice-president, and Winnie Tam Wan-chi SC, former chairwoman of the Hong Kong Bar Association.
“He was always polite, quiet but not without a good sense of humour, very religious, and maintained a good relationship with every one,” Tam said of her former classmate.
