Frank Stock, GBS (; born 15 June 1945) is a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He was until 2014 a Vice President of the Hong Kong Court of Appeal.

Early life and education

Born in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

(now

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

), Stock received his education in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In 1967, he graduated from the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

with a law degree.

Legal career

In 1968, Stock started his legal career 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 ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

where he was in private practice for 10 years. He moved to Hong Kong in 1978 where he served in the Legal Department as a Crown Counsel. Within a year, he was promoted to Senior Crown Counsel, and by 1984, he was Principal Crown Counsel. Stock was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 1984 and took silk in 1985. From 1987 to 1991 he was the Solicitor General. In 1991, he left the civil service.

Judicial career

In 1991, Stock sat as a Deputy High Court Judge. In 1992, Stock was appointed as a full-time judge of the High Court of Justice of the Supreme Court (which became the Court of First Instance of the High Court on 1 July 1997). From 1993 to 1995, he was Chairman of the Insider Dealing Tribunal. He was Judge in charge of the Constitutional and Administrative Law List from 1999 to 2000. Stock was elevated to 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 ...

in October 2000. He was appointed as Vice President of the Court of Appeal on 7 July 2009. He was appointed a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal in 2010. From 2010 to 2014, he primarily sat in the

and heard a few cases in the Court of Final Appeal. He retired from the

as a full-time judge in 2014, but remains a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal. In 2014, Stock was awarded the

Gold Bauhinia Star The Gold Bauhinia Star (, GBS) is the highest rank in Order of the Bauhinia Star, under the Order (distinction), honours system of Hong Kong, created in 1997 to replace the British honours system after the Handover of Hong Kong, transfer of sovere ...

by the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. In May 2023, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

suggested the United States government imposing sanctions on Stock to counter the erosion of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong over his handling of Jimmy Lai's national security law case.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stock, Frank Living people 1945 births Alumni of the University of Liverpool Zimbabwean emigrants to Hong Kong Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star British Hong Kong judges Justices of the Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong) Solicitors general of Hong Kong