Andrew Li

Li was called to the Middle Temple in 1970, and the Hong Kong Bar in 1973.

He served pupillage under Peter Millett, later Lord Millett.

His first ever pupil was Audrey Eu, who commenced her pupillage in 1978.

Her brother and senior counsel was also Li's pupil.

Former Secretary for Justice Wong Yan Lung was Li's last pupil.

He was appointed a Deputy Judge of the District Court of Hong Kong in 1982 and a Deputy High Court Judge in 1991.

In 1988, he was appointed Queen's Counsel.

Andrew Li Kwok-nang (born December 1948) is a retired Hong Kong judge, and a former Chief Justice of Hong Kong, who was the first to preside over the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, established on 1 July 1997.

In 1997, Li was appointed the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal by Tung Chee-hwa, the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region after the handover.

As Chief Justice, he presided in the Court of Final Appeal and was Head of the Judiciary charged with its administration.

In 1999, he gave the leading judgment in Ng Ka Ling and Others v. Director of Immigration, which was at the centre of the right of abode controversy.

In 2000, Li set up a working party, consisting of judges, lawyers and academics, to introduce reforms on minimising the complexity of High Court civil litigation procedures, widening judges' discretionary powers to manage the progress of cases and requiring lawyers to justify their charges.

An interim report was released in 2001, containing 80 recommendations, some of which mirror those in the Woolf Reforms in England.

Known as the Civil Justice Reform, the final report was released on 3 March 2004, setting out 150 recommendations.

It has come into effect on 2 April 2009.

Li announced his decision to resign early from his position as Chief Justice on 25 August 2009, ceasing service on 31 August 2010 and commencing pre-retirement leave on 1 September 2010, three years before retirement age.

He would leave public life upon retirement.

Li's announcement that he intended to take early retirement came as a surprise, prompting widespread speculation that there had been pressure from Beijing, according to the South China Morning Post.

Li was succeeded by Geoffrey Ma on 1 September 2010.

Li was born in Hong Kong and educated locally and in England.

A graduate of the University of Cambridge, Li practised as a barrister in Hong Kong until his appointment as Chief Justice.

During his 13 years as Chief Justice, Li handled a variety of important appellate cases and was known for his moderate jurisprudence and visionary leadership.

He has remained active in public service since his retirement.

Born in Hong Kong, Andrew Li received his early education at St. Paul's Co-educational College, and then at Repton School in Derbyshire, England.

He earned an MA and LLM from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

He served for 13 years until his retirement in 2010.

Li has been lauded for visionary leadership as Chief Justice.

He has left "an indelible mark in the annals of the history of the HKSAR."

He was "the main impetus" in the development of the Court of Final Appeal, where he developed a moderate jurisprudence and was a consensus builder.

Lord Millett, who served alongside Li as a non-permanent judge of the CFA, described Li as "[certainly] the wisest" member of the court.

On 18 February 2010, Li achieved the highest score ever recorded (68.1) by the University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme.

On 8 April 2010, it was announced that Chief Executive Donald Tsang had accepted the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission to appoint Geoffrey Ma as Li's successor.

On 9 June 2010, Ma was formally endorsed unanimously by Hong Kong legislators.

But pro-democracy members remained concerned at the implications of Li's resignation.

Margaret Ng said: "The public is deeply worried that [Li's resignation] signals an era in which judicial independence will gradually yield to the influence and intervention of Beijing ... but I believe the challenges have always been there, openly at times, but unceasingly as an undercurrent."

Emily Lau said many people were unnerved by Li's decision to resign, and that "Hong Kong cannot afford another surprise resignation."

On 17 July 2010, a farewell ceremony was held for Li.

Li, however, stressed his retirement was in the best interests of the judiciary and would be conducive to orderly succession planning of the judiciary as three other permanent judges on the Court of Final Appeal were to reach retirement age between 2012 and 2014.

He also said the judiciary had been under his leadership for 13 years, which was a long time, and that retirement was consistent with his personal wishes.

He dismissed speculation that he resigned due to political pressure.