The Court of Appeal (HKCA in case citations; CA in action numbers) is the upper court of the High Court of Hong Kong (the lower court being Court of First Instance). The Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the Hong Kong judiciary, after the Court of Final Appeal.

The hierarchy of the Hong Kong judiciary from high to low is: the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court (consisting of the upper Court of Appeal and the lower Court of First Instance), the District Court, and magistrates' courts.

The Court of Appeal deals with appeals on all civil and criminal cases from the Court of First Instance and the District Court. Criminal appeals from the magistrates' Courts of great general or public importance may also be heard by the Court of Appeal, either by referral by a single judge from the Court of First Instance, or upon granting of leave on application for review by the Secretary for Justice. This court also hears appeals from the Lands Tribunal and various tribunals and statutory bodies. The Court of Appeal was established in 1976, and its president is the Chief Judge of the High Court.

Decisions of the Court of Appeal are binding on all courts and tribunals in Hong Kong, including itself, except for the Court of Final Appeal. The Court of Appeal however has the power to depart from its own decisions if they find them to be "plainly wrong".

History

Before 1976 Before the establishment of the Court of Appeal, appeals were either by way of re-hearing or made directly to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. From 1913, appeals were heard by a Full Court made up of 3 judges. From 1913 to 1943, a judge of the British Supreme Court for China in Shanghai was eligible to sit on the Full Court. In the 1910s and 1920s, a Shanghai judge would regularly travel to Hong Kong to sit on the Full Court. Sir Havilland de Sausmarez, a judge of the Shanghai court, was the President of the Full Court from 1910 to 1920. From 1926 to 1941, a judge of the Hong Kong Supreme Court also sat on the full court of the British Supreme Court for China.Clark, Douglas, Gunboat Justice, Vol 2, p179-181

1976: establishment of the Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal was created in 1976 by the Supreme Court Ordinance 1975 as part of the then Supreme Court.Supreme Court Ordinance 1975, which came into effect in 1976 Appeals from the Court of Appeal lay to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. In order to appeal to the Privy Council, leave to appeal was required either from the court appealed from or the Privy Council.

The court sat for the first time on the morning of 20 February 1976, with Wilfred Pickering and Alan Huggins serving as the first justices of appeal.

1997 - present The Court of Appeal continued operating as part of the renamed High Court of Hong Kong upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July 1997, as provided for in Article 81 of the Basic Law. The Privy Council ceased to hear appeals from Hong Kong, and its role as Hong Kong's final appellate court was assumed by the new Court of Final Appeal, to which all appeals from the Court of Appeal now lie.

Divisions The Court of Appeal consists of three divisions, each presided over by a vice-president of the court of appeal. These include a criminal division, a civil division, and a "mixed" division that deals with both criminal and civil cases.

Judges The Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong serves as the President of the Court of Appeal. Prior to 1997, the position was known as the Chief Justice, and its holder was the most senior judge in Hong Kong.

Prior to the establishment of the Court of Appeal in 1976, a Full Court consisting of first instance High Court judges was constituted to hear appeals., reported at (2008) 11 HKCFAR 117, at para. 21

Cases in the Court of Appeal are decided by a bench consisting of one, two or three Justices of Appeal. On rare occasions, having regard to the public importance of the issue, the Court of Appeal has been constituted by a division of five judges., reported at (2008) 11 HKCFAR 117, at para. 21See, for example, , reported at 2 HKLRD 401, which was heard by the Vice President of the Court of Appeal (Mr Justice Litton) and four Justices of Appeal (Mr Justice Bokhary, Mr Justice Mortimer, Mr Justice Godfrey and Mr Justice Ching) Final substantive appeal hearings take place before a bench of three Judges. In civil cases, interlocutory appeals and leave to appeal application hearings take place before a bench of two Judges. A single Judge can grant leave to appeal on a paper application and make procedural orders/directions not involving the determination of an appeal. In criminal cases, appeals against sentence take place before a bench of two Judges and leave to appeal application hearings take place before a single Judge. A decision by a two-member bench of the Court of Appeal has the same binding precedential value as a decision by a three-member bench of the Court of Appeal, reported at (2008) 11 HKCFAR 117, at para. 57, reported at 4 HKLRD 67, at para. 45 or a five-member bench of the Court of Appeal., reported at (2008) 11 HKCFAR 117, at para. 58 If a case is heard by a two-member bench and the two Judges differ on the outcome, then the lower court's judgment or order will not be disturbed. In such a situation, any party can apply for the case to be re-heard by an uneven number of Judges in the Court of Appeal.See, for example, , reported at 2 HKLRD 285, in which Ma CJHC and Cheung JA disagreed on the outcome. The case was subsequently re-heard before Woo VP, Le Pichon JA and Chung J in .

A Judge of the Court of First Instance may also sit as a Judge in the Court of Appeal, including as a single Judge (for example, when determining applications for leave to appeal in criminal cases).

Significant cases In August 2022, the court ruled that same-sex marriages overseas would not be recognized as valid in Hong Kong, resulting in no rights or benefits given to married couples in Hong Kong.

In November 2022, the court ruled that there are minimum jail sentences for "serious" national security offenses.

List of justices of appeal #NameTenureReason for tenure endSilkRef1Gerald Michael Godfrey1997–2000Became Vice President of the Court of AppealQC (1971)2Michael Stuart-Moore, GBS1997–1999Became Vice President of the Court of AppealQC (1990)3Anthony Gordon Rogers, GBS1997–2000Became Vice President of the Court of AppealQC (1984)4Arthur Leong Siu-chung, GBS1997–2000Became Chief Judge of the High Court5Simon Herbert Mayo, GBS1997–2000Became Vice President of the Court of Appeal6Sir Brian Richard Keith1999–2001RetiredQC (1989)7Michael Wong Kin-chow, GBS1999–2001Retired8Woo Kwok-hing, GBS2000–2004Became Vice President of the Court of AppealQC (1987)9Roberto Alexandre Vieira Ribeiro, GBM2000Became Permanent Judge of the Court of Final AppealQC (1990)10Doreen Maria Le Pichon, GBS2000–2011Retired11Frank Stock, GBS2000–2009Became Vice President of the Court of AppealQC (1985)12Peter Cheung Chak-yau2001–13Wally Yeung Chun-kuen, GBS2002–2011Became Vice President of the Court of Appeal14Maria Candace Yuen Ka-ning2002–2023Retired15Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, GBM2002–2003Became Chief Judge of the High CourtQC (1993)16Robert Tang Kwok-ching, GBM, SBS2005–2006Became Vice President of the Court of AppealQC (1986)17Michael John Hartmann, GBS2008–2012Retired (Non-permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal)18Susan Kwan Shuk-hing2009–2019Became Vice President of the Court of Appeal19Joseph Paul Fok2011–2013Became Permanent Judge of the Court of Final AppealSC (1999)20Carlye Chu Fun-ling2011–2022Became Vice President of the Court of Appeal21Michael Victor Lunn, GBS2011–2014Became Vice President of the Court of AppealQC (1994)22Johnson Lam Man-hon2012–2013Became Vice President of the Court of Appeal23Aarif Tyebjee Barma2012–SC (2002)24Andrew Colin Macrae2013–2018Became Vice President of the Court of AppealSC (1999)25Ian Charles McWalters, GBS2014–2021RetiredSC (2005)26Derek Pang Wai-cheong2015–27Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor2015–2019Became Chief Judge of the High Court28Kevin Paul Zervos2018–SC (2003)29Thomas Au Hing-cheung2019–30Maggie Poon Man-kay, GBS2021–2025Retired31Godfrey Lam Wan-ho2021–SC (2008)32Anderson Chow Ka-ming2021–SC (2004)33Anthea Pang Po-kam, GBS2021–2025Retired34Anthony Chan Kin-keung2025–SC (2003)35Keith Yeung Kar-hung2026–SC (2009)

See also Vice Presidents of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong High Court of Hong Kong Judiciary of Hong Kong Appellate court

References

External links Hong Kong Judiciary website, High Court page