Elsie Leung

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Elsie Leung Oi Sie GBM JP (Traditional Chinese: 梁愛詩, born 1939) was the Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from 1997 to 2005, and was a member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. She was succeeded by Wong Yan Lung, SC on October 20, 2005.

[edit] Career

Elsie Leung was qualified as a solicitor and started her practice in 1968. Before she became the Secretary for Justice, she was a partner of P. H. Sin & Co. and Iu, Lai & Li Solictors (姚黎李律師行). She specialised in divorce cases. Leung has a distinguished record of public service. Before her appointment as Secretary for Justice, she served on various government boards and committees, including the Independent Police Complaints Council, Equal Opportunities Commission, Social Welfare Advisory Committee and Inland Revenue Board of Review. She was also honorary legal adviser to many non-governmental organisations.

Leung was educated in Hong Kong, at Sacred Heart Canossian College (formerly known as Italian Convent School and Sacred Heart School) and the University of Hong Kong. Leung passed her Law Society Qualifying Examinations in 1967 and obtained her LLM degree from the University of Hong Kong in 1988. She is a past President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers.

Leung was a founding member of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong ("DAB"). She was appointed as a Delegate of the People's Congress of Guangdong Province in 1989. In 1993, she was appointed as a Delegate of the 8th National People's Congress as well as a Hong Kong Affairs Adviser. In the period leading up to the transfer of sovereignty, Leung advised the Chief Executive (Designate) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on legal matters relating to the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

On July 1, 1997, Leung became the first Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. She is the Chief Executive's chief legal adviser and an ex-officio member of the Executive Council. She heads the Department of Justice which has a staff of over 1,000, of whom about 290 are lawyers. She is currently the Chairman of the Law Reform Commission, the Committee on Bilingual Legal System, the Legal Practitioners' Liaison Committee and serves on numerous committees, including the Fight Crime Committee and the Operations Review Committee of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

As the principal law official of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Leung gives legal advice to all government bureaus and departments, represents the Government in all actions brought by or against it, and is responsible for the conduct of all criminal prosecutions and the drafting of all legislation to be introduced by the Government.

Leung was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal in July 2002 for her distinguished public service, and for her significant contributions in ensuring the successful implementation of the new constitutional order under the One Country, Two Systems concept.