Kemal Bokhary

Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary (Urdu: سید كمال شاه بخاري, Chinese: 包致金; Cantonese Yale: Bāau Jigām; born 1947) is a judge in Hong Kong. As of 2010^[update], he serves as one of the three Permanent Judges of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal.^[1]

Early life and family

Bokhary's father is Daoud Bokhary, a native of the North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan who came to Hong Kong with the British Indian Army after the Japanese occupation.^[2] Bokhary himself was born in Hong Kong in 1947. He received his early education in the King George V School, Hong Kong and his legal education in London.^[3] Bokhary is married to High Court judge Verina Saeeda Bokhary (包鍾倩薇), with whom he has three daughters.^[4][5]

Career

Bokhary was called to the English Bar in 1970 and to the Hong Kong Bar the following year.^[3] He went on to establish a successful legal practice in Hong Kong. In 1983, he was appointed Queen's Counsel.^[4] The following year, he also became a Justice of the Peace. In 1989, he was appointed a Judge of the High Court. He came to wide public attention in early 1993 for presiding over an inquest into the New Year's Eve stampede at Lan Kwai Fong, in which 21 people were killed. He was promoted to the Court of Appeal later that year.^[5][4] In 1997, upon the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to the People's Republic of China, Bokhary was appointed a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong. He is known for his sense of humour and his talkativeness in court.^[3]

In 2001, Bokhary was elected a bencher of London's Middle Temple.^[5]

Out of the permanent judges of the Court of Final Appeal, Bokhary holds the record for the number of dissenting opinions he has written. He is also described as the "most hard-working" judge; during his thirteen years of tenure, he has heard 95% (299) of the 313 cases which came before the Court of Final Appeal, a higher proportion than his fellow judges.^[6] Bokhary is considered the most liberal of all of the judges on the Court of Appeal, and legal scholars see his frequent dissents as "intellectually superior" to opinions written by the other judges. He has thus become known as the "conscience of the court", but as he nears the end of his career, observers see no clear successor who will play the same role in the Court of Appeals. Bokhary will reach retirement age in 2012.^[7]

Quotes

• "Humanity is the application." (Lau Kong Yung v. Director of Immigration)
• "To remit the maintenance of constitutional right to the region of judicial discretion is to shift the foundations of freedom from the rock to the sand." (Prem Singh v Director of Immigration)
• 'Human rights are aptly named, being basic to and inherent in humankind. ..."have always existed with the human being ... independently of, and before, the State."' (Secretary for Justice v Yau Yuk Lung, citing Ethiopia v South Africa; Liberia v South Africa)^[8]
• "Of the many and varied purposes for which law is made, none is more important than that of declaring, protecting and realising the full potential of human rights." (Secretary for Justice v Yau Yuk Lung)^[8]
• "And then I conclude by paying another tribute. It is to the dignity in adversity displayed by all the abode-seekers, including and especially the woman who made every effort to remain composed before ultimately breaking down in tears at the final hearing of this long and sad case. My saying that may only be cold comfort to them. But I consider it right to say it nevertheless." (Ng Siu Tung FACV1/2001 at para 55)
• "What is the true scope of the protection conferred by the presumption of innocence? [...] Just because the presumption of innocence is a key component of our criminal justice system, it does not follow that the protection which it confers is strictly confined to criminal proceedings. Such protection obviously extends at least to include civil matters connected with such proceedings. [...] The law moves forward, especially to provide better protection and enforcement of fundamental rights and freedoms. [...] Indifference to a fundamental right or freedom is more insidious – and in that sense can be even more dangerous – than any open derogation from that right or freedom. [...] Threats to fundamental rights and freedoms can come in unpredictable shapes and sizes. A constitution’s protection potential must not be cramped. [...] Article 39 of the Basic Law provides that the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force and be implemented through the laws of Hong Kong." (Yeung Chung Ming v Commissioner of Police FACV 22/2007 paras. 33, 37, 39, 44, 45, 63)
• "This Court is here to do justice." (Tang Siu Man v HKSAR FACV 1/1997 para 129)

References