Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor | |
|---|---|
潘兆初 | |
| 5thChief Judge of the High Court | |
| Assumed office 18 December 2019 | |
| Designated National Security Law Judge | |
| Assumed office 2021 | |
| Appointed by | Carrie Lam |
| Justice of Appeal of theCourt of Appeal of theHigh Court | |
| In office 2015–2019 | |
| Judge of theCourt of First Instance of theHigh Court | |
| In office 2006–2015 | |
| Deputy Registrar of theHigh Court | |
| In office 1999–2006 | |
| Magistrate | |
| In office 1993–1996 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 1962 (age 63) |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Alma mater | University of Hong Kong (LLB,PCLL) University College London (LLM) |
| Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 潘兆初 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor (Chinese:潘兆初; born 1962) is a Hong Kong jurist, currently serving as the 5thChief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong since December 2019.[1]
He has served as President of the Scout Council of theScout Association of Hong Kong since 2018.[2]
Poon was born inHong Kong in 1962.[3]
Poon received aBachelor of Laws in 1985 and aPostgraduate Certificate in Laws in 1986, both from theUniversity of Hong Kong. He received aMaster of Laws fromUniversity College London in theUnited Kingdom in 1987.[3]
Poon wascalled to the Hong Kong Bar in 1986 and was abarrister in private practice between 1988 and 1993.
In 1993, Poon joined the bench as aPermanent Magistrate. He sat as a Presiding Officer in the Labour Tribunal.[4] Poon was appointed as Deputy Registrar of theHigh Court in 1999 and as Judge ofCourt of First Instance of theHigh Court in 2006.[3][5] From 2011 to 2015, he was the Civil Listing Judge and the Judge in charge of the Probate List, the Family Law List and the Mental Health List.[2]
In 2012, Poon acted asReturning Officer for the2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election.[6]
In 2015, Poon was elevated to theCourt of Appeal.[7][8]
On 22 May 2019, acting on the recommendation of the independentJudicial Officers Recommendation Commission, theChief Executive announced Poon's appointment asChief Judge of the High Court (a post which had become vacant upon the appointment ofAndrew Cheung as a Permanent Judge of theCourt of Final Appeal in October 2018), subject to the endorsement of theLegislative Council in accordance with Article 90 of theBasic Law.[9] Pending theLegislative Council's endorsement, Poon was appointed as ActingChief Judge of the High Court on 1 August 2019.[10] After theLegislative Council endorsed Poon's appointment, Poon becameChief Judge of the High Court with effect from 18 December 2019.[1]
In January 2021, Poon was appointed as a member of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission.[11]
In January 2021, Poon ruled that all three methods of building land under theSmall House Policy were completely legal, overturning an earlier decision in 2019.[12] Poon told the plaintiffs,Hendrick Lui Chi-hang andKwok Cheuk-kin, that they did not have sufficient standing to bring up the case because they do not own land rights in the New Territories.[12] In response, a member of theLiber Research Community said that "The ding right affects every Hong Kong citizen as it competes with other land uses for land resources. The government has had to reserve lots of space in new towns for villagers to build their homes, while the land could have been better used for higher-density developments. How can the court say we have no stake in the issue?"[12]
In October 2022, Poon said that if there are any contradictions between the Basic Law andHong Kong national security law, the national security law should take priority.[13]
In October 2022, Poon was part of a team of 3 judges who ruled againstJimmy Lai and said that "despite its importance to the freedom of the press, the protection afforded to journalistic material is not absolute."[14]
In May 2023, theCongressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) of theUnited States Congress suggested the United States government imposing sanctions on Poon to counter the erosion of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong over his handling of Jimmy Lai's case.[15][16] The same month, Poon rejected attempts by Lai to challenge the national security committee's decision to ban Lai from hiringTim Owen.[17]
In August 2023, Poon ruled that Lai's two judicial challenges were "unreasonable" and ordered Lai to pay the costs of the challenges.[18]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief Judge of theHigh Court 2019–present | Incumbent |
| New creation | Designated National Security Law Judge 2021–Present | Incumbent |