The Hong Kong order of precedence is a nominal and symbolic hierarchy of important positions within the

Government of Hong Kong The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino- ...

. Administered by the government's Protocol Division, the hierarchy does not determine the

order of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, which is instead specified by the Basic Law of Hong Kong. As a

special administrative region of the People's Republic of China The special administrative regions (SAR) of the People's Republic of China are one of the provincial-level administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China directly under the control of its Central People's Government (State ...

, Hong Kong theoretically maintains

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one' ...

on all affairs other than defence and foreign relations. Reflecting that status, the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

does not include state and party leaders of the

Central People's Government The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

. Government officials from

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

are generally treated as special guests when attending Hong Kong government functions.

Hong Kong SAR order of precedence

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

( John Lee, GBM, SBS, PDSM) #

Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal The chief justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, sometimes informally known as the chief justice of Hong Kong, is the head of the Judiciary of Hong Kong and the chief judge of the Court of Final Appeal. The chief justice is one of t ...

( Andrew Cheung, GBM) #Former Chief Executives ##

Tung Chee-hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chi ...

, GBM ##

Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyin ...

, GBM ##

Leung Chun-ying Leung Chun-ying (; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor, who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since Ma ...

, GBM, GBS, JP ##

Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Sec ...

, GBM, GBS, JP #

Chief Secretary for Administration The Chief Secretary for Administration, commonly known as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, is the most senior principal official of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Chief Secretary is head of the Governme ...

(

Eric Chan Eric Chan Kwok-ki (; born 5 April 1959) is a Hong Kong politician who is the incumbent Chief Secretary for Administration since 1 July 2022. He was also the secretary-general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security (2020–2022). P ...

, GBS, IDSM, JP) # Financial Secretary ( Paul Chan, GBM, GBS, MH, JP) # Secretary for Justice (

Paul Lam Paul Lam Ting-kwok (; born 1968) is a Hong Kong Senior Counsel who is the current Secretary for Justice. Education Lam was educated at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws (with Second Class Honour Division One) in 1 ...

, SBS, SC, JP) #President of the Legislative Council and Members of the Executive Council: ## President of the Legislative Council ( Andrew Leung, GBM, GBS, JP) ##Convenor of the Executive Council (

Regina Ip Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee (; ' Lau; born 24 August 1950) is a Chinese politician. She is currently the Convenor of the Executive Council (ExCo) and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), as well as the founder and current chair ...

, GBM, GBS, JP) ##Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration (

Warner Cheuk Warner Cheuk Wing-hing (born March 24, 1959) is a Hong Kong administrative officer, former police officer, currently Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, and former Permanent Secretary of the Innovation and Technology Bureau. After his c ...

, GBS) ##Deputy Financial Secretary ( Michael Wong, GBS, JP) ##Deputy Secretary for Justice ( Horace Cheung, SBS, JP) ##Other members of the Executive Council #Other principal officials: ## Commissioner of Police (Raymond Siu Chak-yee, PDSM) ##

Commissioner, Independent Commission Against Corruption The Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption heads the body that is responsible for investigating and prosecuting corruption in both the public and private realms in Hong Kong. The ICAC was created in 1974 to deal with the c ...

( Woo Yong-ming, SBS, CSDSM) ## Director of Audit (

Nelson Lam Nelson Lam Chi-yuen, (, born 20 August 1968) is a Hong Kong accountant and politician who is one of the elected Legislative Council members for the Election Committee constituency which was newly created under the electoral overhaul imposed b ...

, JP) ## Director of Immigration ( Au Ka-wang, IDSM) ## Commissioner of Customs and Excise ( Louise Ho, CMSM) #Other members of the Court of Final Appeal and Chief Judge of the High Court: ##Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal: ###

Robert Ribeiro Roberto Alexandre Vieira Ribeiro (, born 20 March 1949) is a Hong Kong judge and honorary lecturer in law at the University of Hong Kong. He is currently one of the three permanent judges for the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong, and is t ...

, GBM ### Joseph Fok ###

Johnson Lam Johnson Lam Man-hon () is a Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. Biography Early life and education Lam was born in Hong Kong in 1961. He obtained an LL.B. and P.C.LL. from the University of Hong Kong in 1983 and 1984 resp ...

##Non-Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal: ### Frank Stock GBS, JP ### Kemal Bokhary GBM, JP ### Patrick Chan Siu-oi GBM ### Robert Tang GBM, SBS, JP ### The Lord Hoffmann GBS ### Murray Gleeson GBS, AC ###

The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury David Edmond Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury (; born 10 January 1948) is an English judge. He served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2017. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary until the House of Lo ...

GBS ### The Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe GBS ###

The Lord Collins of Mapesbury Lawrence Antony Collins, Baron Collins of Mapesbury (born 7 May 1941) is a British judge and former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He was also appointed to the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong on 11 April 2011 as a non-p ...

### The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers ###

William Gummow William Montague Charles Gummow (born 9 October 1942) is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. He was appointed to the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong on 8 April 2013 as a non-p ...

AC ###

Robert French Robert Shenton French (born 19 March 1947) is an Australian lawyer and judge who served as the twelfth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 2008 to 2017. He has been the chancellor of the University of Western Australia since 2017. Fren ...

AC ### Beverley McLachlin ###

Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption, Lord Sumption, (born 9 December 1948), is a British author, medieval historian and former senior judge who sat on the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2018. Sumption was sworn in as a Just ...

## Chief Judge of the High Court (

Jeremy Poon The Honourable Mr Justice Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor () is the Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong and President of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong. Since 2018, he has served as President of the Scout Council of the Scout Association of Hon ...

) #Other members of the Legislative Council # Consuls-General ('' Foreign country diplomats to Hong Kong'') #Religious leaders: ## Archbishop of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (

Andrew Chan Andrew Chan (; 12 January 1984 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian man who was convicted and executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Chan was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar. ...

) ##President of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association (Kuan Yun, MH) ## Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong (

Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (, born 22 June 1962), known professionally as Stephen Chow, is a Hong Kong filmmaker, former actor and comedian, known for '' Shaolin Soccer'' and '' Kung Fu Hustle''. Early life and education Stephen Chow was born in Hong K ...

) ##President of the Confucian Academy ( Tong Yun-kai, SBS) ##Chairman of the

Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association The Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association (CMCFA; ) is an Islamic organisation in Hong Kong, with around 250,000 members. The group currently operates five different schools in Hong Kong. The head office is in Wan Chai. History The ...

( Sat Che-sang, MH) ##Chairman of the

Hong Kong Christian Council The Hong Kong Christian Council (Also known as HKCC; ) is a Protestant Christian ecumenical organization founded in Hong Kong in 1954. It is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia. The current general secret ...

(Wong Ka-fai) ##Chairman of the Hong Kong Taoist Association (

Leung Tak-wah Liang ( Romanization used in China, ) is an East Asian surname of Chinese origin. The surname is often transliterated as Leung (in Hong Kong) or Leong (in Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines) according to its Cantonese and ...

, BBS, MH) #Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal #Heads of universities ##President of the

City University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...

(

Kuo Way "Guo", written in Chinese: 郭, is one of the most common Chinese surnames and means "the wall that surrounds a city" in Chinese. It can also be transliterated into English as Cok, Gou, Quo, Quach, Quek, Que, Keh, Kuo, Kwo, Kuoch, Kok, Koc, ...

, JP) ##President and Vice-Chancellor of the

Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a publicly funded tertiary liberal arts institution with a Christian education heritage. It was established as Hong Kong Baptist College with the support of American Baptists, who provided both operati ...

( Alexander Wai, JP) ##President of the Hong Kong Metropolitan University (

, SBS, JP) ##President of the Hong Kong Shue Yan University ('' Henry Hu'') ##President of the

Lingnan University Lingnan University (LN/LU), formerly called Lingnan College, is a public liberal arts university in Hong Kong. It aims to provide students with an education in the liberal arts tradition and has joined the Global Liberal Arts Alliance sinc ...

( Leonard Cheng, BBS, JP) ##Vice-Chancellor and President of the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university and ...

( Rocky Tuan) ##President of the

Education University of Hong Kong The Education University of Hong KongUniversity title ...

( Stephen Cheung, SBS, JP) ##President of the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong (

Simon Ho Professor Simon Ho Shun-man is the current President of Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Under his presidency, Hang Seng Management College gained university title as The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong on 30 October 2018, becoming the secon ...

) ##President of the

Hong Kong Polytechnic University The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is a public research university located in Hung Hom, Hong Kong near Hung Hom station. The University is one of the eight government-funded degree-granting tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Founded ...

(Jin-Guang Teng, JP) ##President of the

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Clear Water Bay Peninsula, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991 by the British Hong Kong Government, it was the territory's third institut ...

( Wei Shyy, JP) ##Vice-Chancellor and President the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hon ...

(

Xiang Zhang Zhang Xiang (; born December 1963 in Nanjing) is a Chinese-American academic administrator, material scientist, optical engineer and physicist. He is the current Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), where he als ...

, JP) #Other members of the High Court: ##Justices of Appeal of the

Court of Appeal 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 ...

##Judges 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 ...

#Public commissioners: ##Chairman of the Public Service Commission (

Rita Lau Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan (born 8 May 1953) is a Hong Kong former civil servant. She was appointed Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development in July 2008 after her predecessor Frederick Ma resigned due to health reasons. Coincidentally, ill-hea ...

, GBS, JP) ## The Ombudsman ( Winnie Chiu, PDSM) # Consuls-in-Charge/Honorary Consuls ('' Foreign country diplomats to Hong Kong'') #Permanent Secretaries, Under Secretaries and Officials of Directorate Grade 6 Rank and above #Judges of the District Court: ##Chief District Judge (Justin Ko) ##Principal Family Court Judge (

Chan Chan-kok Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia *Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) * Chan Caldwe ...

) ##Other District Judges # District Council Chairmen #Recipients of the

Gold Bauhinia Star The Gold Bauhinia Star (, GBS) is the highest Bauhinia Star rank in the honours system of Hong Kong, created in 1997 to replace the British honours system of the Order of the British Empire after the transfer of sovereignty to People's Republic of ...

Justices of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sam ...

#Members of District Councils ##District Council Vice Chairmen ##Other District Council Members

Hong Kong order of precedence until 1997

Office holders on 1 June 1997 in brackets:CR 5/511/97(98)Pt 4
Legislative Council of Hong Kong #

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

(

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life ...

) # Chief Justice ( Noel Power (Acting)) # Chief Secretary ( Anson Chan, CBE, JP) #

Commander British Forces in Hong Kong The Commander British Forces in Hong Kong (CBF) was a senior British Army officer who acted as Military Advisor to the Governor of Hong Kong and was in charge of the Hong Kong British Forces. The officeholder of this post concurrently assumed the ...

, if of the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

(Major-General Bryan Dutton, CBE) #Heads of Churches ## Bishop of Hong Kong (Bishop Peter Kwong) ## Roman Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong (Cardinal John Wu) # Financial Secretary (

, OBE, JP) #

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

(

Jeremy Fell Mathews Jeremy Fell Mathews, CMG, JP, (馬富善) was the last Attorney General of Hong Kong before 1 July 1997. He served in the post from 1988 to 1997, under the governorship of Lord Wilson of Tillyorn and the last governor, Chris Patten. Early lif ...

, CMG, JP) # President of the Legislative Council ( Andrew Wong, OBE, JP) #Members of the Executive Council #Other members of the Legislative Council #Diplomatic Officers ##Commonwealth Commissioners and Consuls-General de Carriere ##Acting Commonwealth Commissioners and Acting Consuls-General de Carriere ##Honorary Consuls-General ##Senior British Trade Commissioner ( Francis Cornish, CMG, LVO) # Heads of Universities ##President of the

(

Woo Chia-wei Chia-Wei Woo (), , was the founding president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His work included raising funding and recruiting outstanding faculty for the university. With Chung Sze Yuen, Woo created an institution, i ...

, CBE) ##President and Vice-Chancellor of the

(

Daniel Tse Daniel Tse Chi-wai, GBS, CBE, JP (born 1934 in Macau) is the chair of the University Council of the University of Macau. He was also the member of the Executive Council and Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Biography Tse was born and broug ...

, CBE, JP) ##President of the

( Poon Chung-kwong, OBE, JP) ##Vice-Chancellor of the

(

Patrick Cheng Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

, CBE, JP) ##President of the

( Chang Hsin-kang) ##Vice-Chancellor of the

(

Arthur Li Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, GBM, GBS JP (; born 27 June 1945) is a Hong Kong doctor and politician. He is currently member of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the chairman of the Council of the Univers ...

) #Judges of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

## Justices of Appeal ## Judges of the High Court #Knights #Heads of Public service units ## Commissioner of police (

Eddie Hui Eddie Hui Ki-on, GBS, CBE, QPM, CPM (, 10 October 1943 - 3 May 2009) was the last Commissioner of the Royal Hong Kong Police from 1994–1997, and the first Commissioner of Hong Kong Police from 1 July 1997 to 1 January 2001. Li Kwan-ha ran th ...

, QPM, CPM) ## Chairman of the Public Service Commission (

Haider Hatim Tyebjee Barma Haider Hatim Tyebjee Barma GBS, ISO, JP (born 1944) served as Hong Kong's Secretary for Transport from 1993 until 1996. He was born as a third generation Hong Konger, educated in British Hong Kong, and is of Indian ancestry. He speaks Cantonese ...

, CBE, ISO, JP) ## The Ombudsman (

Andrew So Andrew So Kwok-wing, SBS, OBE, JP (; born 29 March 1939) is a Hong Kong educator and politician. So was born on 29 March 1939. He studied at the Wah Yan College, Kowloon and the Grantham College of Education and worked as an educator. He took a ...

, OBE, JP) ##

(

Lily Yam Lily Yam Kwan Pui-ying (; ' Kwan; born 6 July 1946) is a former top Hong Kong civil servant. Biography Lily Kwan was born in Hong Kong in 1947, the fourth of six children. She attended Sacred Heart Canossian College until 1964, and later gr ...

, JP) ## Chairman of the Urban Council ( Ronald Leung, OBE, JP) ## Chairman of the Regional Council (

Daniel Lam Daniel Lam Wai-keung () SBS, JP is the former Chairman of the Hong Kong Regional Council (se as well as a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. He is currently vice-chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk, an organisation representing ...

, JP) #Consuls de Carriere who are Heads of Post #Honorary Consuls who are Heads of Post #Other Secretaries and Heads of Group I Departments #Chief of Staff and Senior Naval Officer (Commodore

Peter John Melson Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, CBE) #Hong Kong Commissioner in London (Sir David Robert Ford, KBE, LVO, JP) #Other Members of the Urban and Regional Councils #Administrative Officer Staff Grade "A" and Heads of Departments of similar status # District Judges #

District Board The district councils, formerly district boards until 1999, are the local councils for the 18 districts of Hong Kong. History Before establishment An early basis for the delivery of local services were the Kaifong associations, set up i ...

Chairmen #Companions, Commanders, Officers and Members of Orders of Chivalry #

Notes

:a.Also the Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and will be treated as a guest at SAR functions. :b.Also a member of the Legislative Council :c.Also a District Council Chairman. :d.Henry Hu appeared in an earlier precedence as a recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal. :e.The most recent holder of this position,

Michael Yeung Michael Yeung Ming-cheung (; 1 December 1945 – 3 January 2019) was the eighth Roman Catholic bishop of Hong Kong. He was consecrated on 30 August 2014. Early life Yeung Ming-cheung was born in Shanghai in 1945. He completed his primary a ...

, died on 3 January 2019.

References

{{reflist

External links

The Precedence List of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Orders of precedence Lists of office-holders in Hong Kong

Hong Kong SAR order of precedence

Hong Kong order of precedence until 1997

Notes

See also

References

External links