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Dr. the Honourable Andrew Li Appointed CUHK Honorary Professor of Law
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is delighted to announce that Dr. the Honourable Andrew Li Kwok-nang, Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), will be appointed Honorary Professor of Law after his retirement from the office of Chief Justice. He will be CUHK’s fourth Honorary Professor of Law with effect from 1 September 2010. With the appointment of Dr. Andrew Li, the Faculty of Law will be able to draw upon his unrivalled experience and wisdom to help further enhance its education in nurturing future legal professionals, hence strengthening Hong Kong’s standing as an international legal centre.
‘I am greatly honoured by the University’s offer of appointment as Honorary Professor of Law. I look forward to contributing to the Faculty of Law,’ said Dr. Andrew Li.
The other three distinguished Honorary Professors of Law at CUHK are all internationally renowned legal experts in the common law world, namely The Right Honourable Lord Woolf of Barnes, Non-Permanent Judge of the HKSAR and former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales; Dr. the Honourable Sir T L Yang, former Chief Justice of Hong Kong and former Chairman of the Executive Committee of CUHK School of Law (now the Faculty of Law); and the late Professor Sir David Williams, a leading expert in the field of public law and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
Prof. Mike McConville, Dean of the Faculty of Law of CUHK, said that the appointment of Dr. Andrew Li was a major milestone in the Faculty’s development, ‘Chief Justice Li is renowned for his unrivalled knowledge of Hong Kong Law and for the remarkable skills he deployed in assembling a Court of Final Appeal (CFA) that is of truly world-standing. Chief Justice Li has been emblematic of all that is best in the common law: dispassionate in his judgments, measured, objective, independent, dignified and courteous. He has gained the respect of all who have appeared before the CFA and it is a selfless act on his part that he is willing to share his unrivalled knowledge with students who are just embarking upon a legal career. In honouring Chief Justice Li, we honour ourselves and we do so in the certain knowledge that he will pass to others an unqualified commitment to the rule of law and the continued quest for justice for all.’
Dr. Andrew Li was educated in Hong Kong. He furthered his studies at the University of Cambridge, where he obtained an MA and an LLM. He was called to the Bar in 1970 and started practising in Hong Kong in 1973 and also in the UK, and was later appointed judge in Hong Kong. He was appointed a deputy judge of the District Court of Hong Kong in 1982 and took silk in 1988. He was then appointed a deputy high court judge in 1991. In 1997 Dr. Li was appointed the first Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal, HKSAR.
Dr. Li has a long and distinguished record of public service. He was a member of the Executive Council, Steward of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Chairman of the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (the predecessor of the University Grants Committee) and the Land Development Corporation, and Vice-Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is currently Vice-Chairman of the Council of St. Paul’s Co-Educational College, Trustee of the Friends of Tsinghua University Law School Charitable Trust and Guest Professor of the Tsinghua University. Apart from being Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, of the Chinese University, he has also been conferred honorary doctorates by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of Hong Kong. In 2008 he was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal by the HKSAR Government.
As a world-renowned jurist, Dr. Li has made remarkable accomplishments in ensuring an independent and effective judicial system in Hong Kong, and in the development of higher education in the local territory. He has long been supportive of the development of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The establishment and rapid development of the Faculty of Law has owed much to his valuable advice.
