Secretary for Justice

The Secretary for Justice (zh-t|t=律政司司長) is a member of the Hong Kong Government responsible for prosecutions and legal matters. He or she heads the Department of Justice.

The Secretary for Justice is the third in line, after the Chief Secretary and the Financial Secretary, to act for the Chief Executive when he or she is on leave, outside Hong Kong, or when the position is otherwise temporarily vacant.

The Secretary for Justice ranks fifth in the Hong Kong order of precedence.

The current Secretary for Justice is Wong Yan Lung (黃仁龍), SC.

Etymology

Before the 1997 handover to China, the position was known as the Attorney General (律政司), and the department was known as the Legal Department (律政署).

List of Attorneys General before 1997

*Thomas Chisholm Anstey (1855-1859)
*William Henry Adams (1860-1875)
* George Phillippo (1876-1879)
*Edward Louchlin O'Malley (1884-1889)
*W. Meigh Goodman (1890-1902)
*Sir Henry Spencer Berkeley (1902-1906)
*Rees Davies (1907-1912)
*J. A. S. Bucknill (1912-1914)
*Sir Joseph H. Kemp (1914-1930)
*C. G. Alabaster (1930-1941)
*G. E. Strickland (acting) (1946)
*John Bowes Griffin (1947-1951)
*Arthur Ridehalgh (1952-1961)
*Maurice Heenan (1962-1966)
*Denys Tudor Emil Roberts (1966-1973)
*John Williams Dixon Hobley (1973-1979)
*John Calvert Griffiths (1979-1983)
*Michael David Thomas (1983-1988)
*Jeremy Fell Mathews (1988 - 30 June 1997)

List of Secretaries for Justice

*Elsie Leung (1 July 1997-19 October 2005)
*Wong Yan Lung, SC (20 October 2005-present)

ee also

*Attorney General
*Justice minister
*Minister of Justice (France), who performs similar functions to his or her Hong Kong counterpart