Director of Public Prosecutions (Hong Kong)

Director of Public Prosecutions
Emblem of Hong Kong
AppointerSecretary for Justice
Term lengthVaries (contract based); mandatory retirement age of 60
Inaugural holderPeter Van Tu Nguyen, QC, SC, 1997
FormationHong Kong Basic Law
1 July 1997

The Director of Public Prosecutions of Hong Kong (DPP) is a law officer and head of the Prosecutions Division of the Department of Justice; the director is responsible for directing the conduct of trials and appeals on behalf of Hong Kong, providing legal advice to law enforcement agencies (such as Hong Kong Police, Hong Kong Customs and Excise, and ICAC), exercising the discretion of whether to institute criminal proceedings, and providing advice to others in government on proposed changes to the criminal law.

Former directors include David Leung SC, a lifelong prosecutor who joined the Prosecutions Division in 1995; he was appointed director in 2017. Leung resigned on 31 July 2020, citing differences with Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng, leaving the post at the end of the year.[1]

The current director is Maggie Yang Mei-kei. She was appointed director on 13 August 2021 and is the first woman and non-Queen's Counsel to be appointed director.[2]

Crown prosecutors

Prior to 1997, the position was known as the Crown Prosecutor. First appointed in 1979, there have been seven different Crown Prosecutors between 1979 and 1997. A list of former Crown Prosecutors is as follows:

  1. David Boy, QC (1979–1982)
  2. Max Lucas, QC (1982–1984)
  3. Joseph Duffy, QC (1984–1986)
  4. James Findlay, QC (1986–1989)
  5. Anthony Duckett, QC (Acting, 1989–1990)
  6. John Wood, CB (1990–1994)
  7. Peter Nguyen, QC (1994–1997)

Role of the director

The Director may be appointed from a wide range of candidates, as long as they have been called to the Hong Kong Bar; they can be either in private practice or serving in the government, and may be of any nationality. The longest serving Director, Ian Grenville Cross QC SC, was a British career prosecutor, while the first Hong Kong Chinese Director Keith Yeung SC was an eminent criminal Senior Counsel in private practice.

As the head of the Prosecutions Division, the Director may or may not choose to be actively involved in court hearings. For example, while Keith Yeung was primarily known for directing overall policy and was rarely in court, David Leung was known to be actively involved and was often seen in court.[3]

Independence of the director

The Secretary for Justice, a politically appointed role, is the chief prosecutor and ultimately can direct the Director on criminal prosecution matters. This has come under fire from a number of legal experts in Hong Kong, including former prosecutor Ian Grenville Cross QC SC, eminent criminal defense lawyer Cheng Huan QC SC, barrister and legal sector legislator Dennis Kwok,[4] as well as the South China Morning Post (in an editorial).[5] Cross has argued that Hong Kong should follow the United Kingdom, where the Attorney General for England and Wales transferred criminal prosecuting powers to the UK's Director in 2009.[6]

Retirement

Director's are required to retire at age 60, and may return to private practice. Traditionally, however, outgoing Director's are offered the chance of a High Court judgeship; Director's appointed to the High Court must go through a six-month "cooling-off" period, in which they are kept out of any criminal trials, civil cases, or appeals involving the government.[7] To date, Cross remains the only Director not to become a High Court judge post-retirement, but whether this was due to his own personal choice or the fact that a position was not offered to him is unclear.

List of directors

No. Name Chinese name Nationality Tenure start Tenure end Tenure length Higher education Appointed by Further judicial appointments Notes Silk
1 Peter Van Tu Nguyen, SBS, QC, SC
(1943–2020; aged 76) 		阮雲道 Chinese 1 July 1997 14 October 1997 106 days City Law School Elsie Leung Judge of the Court of First Instance (1997–2008)
  • Assumed role of Director as incumbent Crown Prosecutor
  • Shortest serving Director
 QC (1995)
2 Ian Grenville Cross, GBS, QC, SC
Born 15 June 1951 (age 73) 		江樂士 British 15 October 1997 21 October 2009 12 years and 7 days University of Southampton (LLB)
College of Law
  • First Director to be appointed
  • Last QC to be appointed Director
  • First Director to not join judiciary post-retirement
  • Longest serving Director
 QC (1990)
3 Ian Charles McWalters, GBS, SC
Born 17 February 1951 (age 73) 		麥偉德 Australian 22 October 2009 9 February 2011 1 year and 111 days University of Sydney (BA, LLB) Wong Yan-lung, SC Judge of the Court of First Instance (2011–14)
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (2014–21)
  • First SC to be appointed Director
 SC (2005)
4 Kevin Paul Zervos, SC
Born 25 November 1953 (age 71) 		薛偉成 Australian 25 March 2011 8 September 2013 2 years and 168 days Monash University (BS, LLB)
University of Hong Kong (LLM (HR))
 Judge of the Court of First Instance (2013–18)
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal (2018–) 		SC (2003)
5 Keith Yeung Kar-hung, SC
Born 1964 (age 59–60) 		楊家雄 Chinese 9 September 2013 8 September 2017 4 years and 0 days University of Hong Kong (LLB, PCLL) Rimsky Yuen, SC Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance (2018–19)
Judge of the Court of First Instance (2019–)
  • First local Hong Kong Chinese Director
  • First Director to be appointed from private practice
 SC (2009)
6 David Leung Cheuk-yin, SC
Born 15 December 1966 (age 58) 		梁卓然 Chinese 29 December 2017 31 December 2020 3 years and 3 days University of Hong Kong (LLB, PCLL, LLM, LLM (HR))
  • First Director to go into private practice
 SC (2015)
7 Maggie Yang Mei-kei 楊美琪 Chinese 13 August 2021 Incumbent 3 years and 138 days University of Wales Teresa Cheng, SC
  • First woman appointed Director
  • First non-Silk to be appointed Director

The incumbent Director is an unofficial Justice of the Peace, and is given the "JP" designation while in office; this designation is removed upon leaving office, unless officially appointed separately.[8]

List of current senior counsel prosecutors

In order to reduce reliance on costly external Senior Counsel prosecutors, the Department of Justice has been trying to groom in house prosecutors to achieve Senior Counsel status; the following is a list of current Senior Counsel prosecutors:[9]

  • William Tam Yiu-ho, SC (2015): Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (Commercial Crime)

List of former senior counsel prosecutors

The following is a list of former prosecutors who were appointed Senior Counsel during their tenure with the Department (since 1997 onwards); the year of elevation is indicated in brackets.

  1. John Reading, SC (1999): Entered private practice with Pacific Chambers
  2. Michael Blanchflower, SC (2001): Entered private practice with Parkside Chambers
  3. Arthur Luk, SC (2002): Entered private practice with Cheng Huan SC Chambers
  4. Kevin Zervos, SC (2003): Appointed Judge of the Court of First Instance
  5. Ian McWalters, SC (2005): Appointed a Judge of the Court of First Instance
  6. Robert Lee, SC (2008): Entered private practice with Cheng Huan SC Chambers
  7. Simon Tam, SC (2013): Retired
  8. Wesley Wong, SC (2013): Appointed Solicitor General
  9. Martin Hui, SC (2015): Entered private practice with Plowman Chambers[10]
  10. David Leung, SC (2015): Entered private practice with Liberty Chambers
  11. Anna Lai, SC (2016): Entered private practice with Plowman Chambers
  12. Vinci Lam, SC (2021): Entered private practice with Plowman Chambers

References

  1. ^ "Director of public prosecutions quits post". RTHK. 31 July 2020. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Appointment of Director of Public Prosecutions (with photo)". Hong Kong Government Press Releases. 13 August 2021.
  3. ^ "【律政司地震】梁卓然愛親自上陣出庭 法律界指對社運案「去得好盡」(Chinese only)". Apple Daily. 31 July 2020. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Hong Kong justice chief should give up prosecuting power, top lawyer says". SCMP. 10 January 2018. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Hong Kong's director of public prosecutions is key to rule of law". SCMP. 11 August 2013. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020.
  6. ^ https://www.law.hku.hk/ccpl/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IGC-May-29.pdf. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 February 2020. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ "Ex-prosecutor Kevin Zervos appointed to High Court". 13 September 2013. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Organisation chart of the Prosecutions Division". Archived from the original on 22 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Martin Hui to leave justice department and enter private practice later this year". 11 January 2019. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020.
  10. ^ "G.N. 2" Archived 25 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 1, Vol. 25, 8 January 2021)