The Court of Appeal of the
High Court of Hong Kong is the second most senior court in the
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
legal system. It deals with appeals on all
civil
Civil may refer to:
*Civic virtue, or civility
*Civil action, or lawsuit
* Civil affairs
*Civil and political rights
*Civil disobedience
*Civil engineering
*Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism
*Civilian, someone not a membe ...
and
criminal cases from the
Court of First Instance
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accorda ...
and the
District Court. It is one of two courts that makes up the
High Court of Hong Kong (which was formerly known as the
Supreme Court of Hong Kong). Sometimes criminal appeals from
Magistrates' Courts
A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings.
Courts
* Magistrates' court (England and Wales)
* Magistrate's Cour ...
with general public importance are also dealt with in 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
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
.
This court also hears appeals from the
Lands Tribunal and various tribunals and statutory bodies.
The
Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong
The Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong (CJHC) is the head of the High Court of Hong Kong and the President of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong. In the Hong Kong order of precedence, the Chief Judge is the second most senior administr ...
serves as the President of the Court of Appeal.
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.
Cases in the Court of Appeal are decided by a bench consisting of one, two or three Judges. 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. 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 or a five-member bench of the Court of Appeal. 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.
A Judge of the
Court of First Instance
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accorda ...
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).
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
See also
*
Vice Presidents of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong
The vice presidents of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong are senior justices of appeal who have been appointed by the chief judge of the High Court of Hong Kong to preside over certain divisions of the Court of Appeal
A court of appeals, also ...
*
High Court of Hong Kong
*
Judiciary of Hong Kong
*
Appellate court
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
References
External links
Hong Kong Judiciary website, High Court page
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
1997 establishments in Hong Kong
Courts and tribunals established in 1997
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