Thomas Au

Thomas Au Hing-cheung (Chinese: 區慶祥; born 1963) is a Hong Kong judge, currently serving as a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong.[1]

In this Chinese name, the family name is Au.
The Honourable Mr Justice
Thomas Au Hing-cheung
JA
區慶祥
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court of Hong Kong
Assumed office
2019
President of the Lands Tribunal
In office
2010–2014
Preceded byJohnson Lam
Succeeded byLouis Chan
Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court of Hong Kong
In office
2009–2019
District Judge
In office
2007–2009
Personal details
Born1963 (age 59–60)
Hong Kong
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
University of Hong Kong

Biography

Early life

Born in Hong Kong in 1963, Au grew up in Hong Kong and received an LLB from the University of Hong Kong in 1996, the BCL from the University of Oxford in 1997, and a PCLL from the University of Hong Kong in 1998.

Au was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 1998, and was in private practice between 1999 and 2007 as a member of Temple Chambers.[2]

In 2007, Au left private practice and joined the bench as a District Judge, before being promoted to the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 2009.[3] He served as President of the Lands Tribunal from 2010 to 2014.[4][5] He also served as the Judge in charge of the Construction and Arbitration List from 2011 until 2 September 2012, when he was appointed as the Judge in charge of the Constitutional and Administrative Law List.[6]

In 2019, Au was elevated to the Court of Appeal.[7]

Due to his young age, and relatively quick rate of promotion since joining the Judiciary, he has been described as a "high flyer" within the Judiciary. He has also described as a judge “with a great sense of humour when not commenting on the law”, but who adopted a “technical” approach to his cases".[8]

Personal life

Au was a member of the Civic Party from 2003 to 2006, when he left the party prior to appointment as a full-time Judge.

References
  1. "Judicial appointments". Government of Hong Kong. 11 January 2019.
  2. "History | Temple Chambers". Temple Chambers. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020.
  3. "Judicial appointments". Government of Hong Kong. 24 September 2009.
  4. "G.N. 5" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 1, Vol. 14, 8 January 2010)
  5. "G.N. 132" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 2, Vol. 18, 10 January 2014)
  6. "Judicial appointment". Government of Hong Kong. 15 August 2012.
  7. "Judicial appointment". Government of Hong Kong. 11 January 2019.
  8. Ng, Joyce (24 November 2016). "High Court judge in oath-taking case no stranger to thorny political issues". South China Morning Post.
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