The Honourable Mr Justice Aarif Tyebjee Barma (; born 1959) is a Hong Kong judge, and currently serves as Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Barma grew up in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, where he attended

Diocesan Boys' School The Diocesan Boys' School (DBS) is a day and boarding Anglican boys' school in Hong Kong, located at 131 Argyle Street, Hong Kong, Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon. The school's mission is "to provide a liberal education based on Christianity ...

. He then read

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

obtaining a BA in 1981 and a BCL in 1982.

Legal career

Barma was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1983, and to the Hong Kong Bar later the same year. After doing most of his pupillage in London, he returned to Hong Kong to complete his pupillage and commenced practice there as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

at the end of 1984. In 2002, he was appointed Senior Counsel. He was a member of Temple Chambers during his time in private practice. Barma sat as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2002 and 2003. In September 2003, Barma was appointed a Judge of the

Court of First Instance A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

of the

High Court of Hong Kong The High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is a part of the legal system of Hong Kong. It consists of the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance; it deals with criminal and civil cases which have risen beyond the ...

. He dealt mostly with company, insolvency, commercial and tax cases. In 2012, Barma became the Judge in charge of the Admiralty List. In November 2012, Barma was appointed a Justice of Appeal of the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

of the

. In September 2015, Barma was elected a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barma, Aarif Living people 1959 births Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Oxford Hong Kong judges Hong Kong Senior Counsel Barristers of Hong Kong Hong Kong people of Indian descent People educated at Diocesan Boys' School