Hong Kong’s Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma set to announce retirement, Andrew Cheung named front runner to succeed him

Hong Kong’s judiciary is set to announce as early as Friday the impending retirement of Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, with Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung tipped to be the front runner to succeed him.

Ma would step down as the city’s most senior judge upon turning 65 in January 2021, after serving as the head of the city’s highest court for more than a decade, a source told the Post.

Cheung, 58, who was appointed as a permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal in October last year, was the most likely candidate to take over, according to an insider.

But it could take an independent commission, which is headed by the incumbent chief justice, about six months to discuss and recommend Ma’s successor to Hong Kong’s leader.

The revelation comes at a time when the city’s courts are under intense public scrutiny, facing growing criticism from rival political camps over their handling of cases involving those arrested during Hong Kong’s increasingly violent protests, which were first ignited by the now-withdrawn extradition bill but have developed into a wider anti-government movement.

Ma’s expected departure also means Hong Kong’s top court could lose two veteran judges within a year, with Mr Justice Roberto Ribeiro expected to retire in March next year, when he turns 71.

Four judges sit permanently on the Court of Final Appeal, including the chief justice.

The source said Ma, who became the city’s top judge in 2010, had decided to step down in 2021 despite being able to delay retirement up to the age of 76, under a new law expected to pass the legislature in this session.

“Ma decided to simply retire by 65 because he wants to avoid the perception of conflict of interest by taking advantage of the new rule which extends judges’ retirement age,” the insider close to Ma said.

“Ma also hopes his retirement in 2021 would ensure a smooth succession. He is concerned about the possibility of likely successors, such as Andrew Cheung, having different thoughts about their career path if he clings to his post for another few years.”

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Another person familiar with the situation said Ma preferred Cheung as his successor because of the latter’s administrative experience as chief judge of the High Court from 2011 to 2018.

In an effort to prepare Cheung for the top role, the person said, Ma had asked Cheung to accompany him on visits to mainland China over the past few years.

A judge has to serve notice of his or her plan to retire one year in advance.

In September 2009, the judiciary announced the city’s first chief justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang would retire on August 31, 2010, when he was 61.

The retirement age for permanent judges and the chief justice serving on the Court of Final Appeal is 65, but they are entitled to two extensions of three years each, meaning they could stay on until the age of 71.

Under a proposal submitted to lawmakers in July last year, Hong Kong judges and magistrates will be allowed to serve until they are aged 70 and 65 respectively, to address senior staff shortages in the city’s courts.

As current policy allows High Court judges to extend their terms for another five years at their discretion, the de facto retirement age for High Court judges and magistrates would be 75 and 70 years respectively under the revised arrangement.

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That means under the proposals and existing policy, the maximum retirement age of permanent judges of the Court of Final Appeal would be 76 years.

In January last year, Ma called Hong Kong’s retirement requirements “outdated” and “low by world standards”, voicing hope the new system would come into effect before 2020.

Once the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission has put forward its suggestion for a new chief justice, the city’s leader will then seek the Legislative Council’s endorsement and report the appointment to China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.

In April 2010, then chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen announced the appointment of Ma as Li’s successor.

Ma and other top legal figures have expressed concern about political criticism of court rulings and stressed the need for the judiciary to remain independent.

Last month, a pro-government group organised a protest attended by around 100 people outside the Court of Final Appeal, criticising the judiciary for releasing anti-government protesters on bail and imposing what they considered to be lenient sentences.

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There were also calls for Ma, now 63, to step down and anti-government protesters have used social media to target members of the judiciary who have denied bail to their peers.

In February last year, Ma and another four judges of the Court of Final Appeal unanimously quashed the jail terms of student activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung and two of his comrades-in-arms, but upheld strict sentencing guidelines for future illegal protests.

The controversial case centred on a protest in September 2014 that sparked the 79-day occupation of key roads by Hongkongers in the name of fighting for greater democracy.

Ma began his private practice in Hong Kong and Singapore in 1980. He joined the judiciary as a recorder of the High Court in 2000 and was appointed a judge of the Court of First Instance the following year. He became chief judge of the High Court in 2003.

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Simon Young Ngai-man, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said Ma had made significant contributions during his term.

“He has maintained the high quality of judgments coming from the court. He has continued to attract the most distinguished common law jurists to join the court and composed a more diverse bench with the first female judges and the first Canadian judge,” Young said.