Patrick Yu Shuk Siu (; August 22, 1922 – January 12, 2019) was a celebrated

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

and

appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

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 ...

Biography

Born into an intellectual Chinese family (father Yu Wa was an educator) in Hong Kong, with ancestry from

Taishan __NOTOC__ Taishan may refer to: *Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the ''Jade Emperor Peak ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, Yu was educated at home for many years before attending Wah Yan College Hong Kong, a prominent

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

high school in

. In 1938, at the age of sixteen, he was admitted to the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

, where he studied in the arts program as a Government Scholar. In 1941, shortly after the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

had broken out, Yu served with British Naval Intelligence and was commissioned as an officer in the Intelligence Corps of the Army of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. In 1945, Yu was awarded a Victory Scholarship by the Government of Hong Kong to continue his studies in

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. He studied at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, from 1946 to 1948, and later passed his Bar Examination. Jobless and almost penniless, Yu was forced to find himself a profession. Within a 10-month period, he familiarised himself with all the "niceties" of the English

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

, studying in the Bar Library at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. In 1949, he passed the bar exam of England and Wales and practised briefly as a

chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Court of Chancery, the chief court of equity in England and Wales until 1873 ** Equity (law), also called chancery, the body of jurisprudence originating in the Court of Chancery ** Courts of e ...

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 ...

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. In 1950, Yu moved to Malaya for a short period to work in his uncle's (Yong Shook Lin) firm

Shook Lin & Bok Shook Lin & Bok is a law firm with offices in Singapore and Malaysia. History Shook Lin & Bok began in 1918 as Messrs Yong Shook Lin, a Kuala Lumpur law firm. That year, Yong Shook Lin was admitted as the first Chinese to the Malayan bar aft ...

. He soon went back to

, and in 1951 became the first Chinese person to be appointed Crown Counsel of that British colony. Yu resigned in 1953 and commenced a private practice. He soon built up a sterling reputation as an

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, and by the mid-1960s he had already become the top criminal lawyer in town. It was also during this time he helped to establish the first law school in Hong Kong, "The Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong". For that, he received an Honorary LLD degree from the University of Hong Kong. In the 1970s, Yu was offered a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

ship on the

Supreme Court of Hong Kong The Supreme Court of Hong Kong was the highest court from 1976 to 1997 in British Hong Kong. It heard cases of first instance and appeals from the District and Magistrates Courts as well as certain tribunals. The Supreme Court was from 1976 ...

, an invitation he declined. Two similar offers were made during the decade. Yu declined both on the grounds of the discriminatory employment terms. Yu was also known for his refusal to apply to become

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

, a mark of distinction envied by many practitioners in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and in many other Commonwealth countries. In 1983, after thirty years of private practice, Yu decided to retire. He became an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

author and story-teller, and has published two volumes of memoirs and stories since. He became a life member of the Hong Kong bar association in 1994. He is a cousin of

Yong Pung How Yong Pung How (11 April 1926 – 9 January 2020) was a Singaporean judge, lawyer, and banker who served as the second Chief Justice of Singapore from 1990 to 2006 after being appointed by President Wee Kim Wee. During his tenure, he implement ...

, former Chief Justice of Singapore, and his younger daughter is married to the younger son of Sir Ti Liang Yang, former Chief Justice of Hong Kong. Yu died on 12 January 2019.

References

Autobiography

* ''Tales from No. 9 Ice House Street'', 2002 * ''A Seventh Child and The Law'', 2000

Biography

References

Autobiography

See also