A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility and arguments of the parties, and then issues a ruling in the case based on their interpretation of the law and their own personal judgment. A judge is expected to conduct the trial impartially and, typically, in an open court.
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enforcement, prosecutions or even responsibility for legal affairs generally. In practice, the extent to which the attorney general personally provides legal advice to the government varies between jurisdictions, and even between individual office-holders within the same jurisdiction, often depending on the level and nature of the office-holder's prior legal experience.
A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general is often the second-ranked law officer of the state and a deputy of the attorney general. The extent to which a solicitor general actually provides legal advice to or represents the government in court varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and sometimes varies between individual office holders in the same jurisdiction.
The chief justice is the presiding member of a supreme court in many countries with a justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Nepal the High Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the Supreme Court of Ghana, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court of Ireland, the Supreme Court of Japan, the Supreme Court of Nepal, the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Supreme Court of the Philippines, the Supreme Court of Singapore, the Supreme Court of the United States, and provincial or state supreme courts/high courts.
Harry Kenneth Woolf, Baron Woolf is a British life peer and retired barrister and judge. He was Master of the Rolls from 1996 until 2000 and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2000 until 2005. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 made him the first Lord Chief Justice to be President of the Courts of England and Wales. He was a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong from 2003 to 2012. He sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.
Lawrence Antony Collins, Baron Collins of Mapesbury is a British judge and former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He was also appointed to the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong on 11 April 2011 as a non-permanent judge from other common law jurisdictions. He resigned from the court on 6 June 2024 due to the political situation in Hong Kong.
The Judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the judicial branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Under the Basic Law of Hong Kong, it exercises the judicial power of the Region and is independent of the executive and legislative branches of the Government. The courts in Hong Kong hear and adjudicate all prosecutions and civil disputes, including all public and private law matters.
The High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is a part of the legal system of Hong Kong. It consists of the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance; it deals with criminal and civil cases which have risen beyond the lower courts. It is a superior court of record of unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction. It was named the Supreme Court before 1997. Though previously named the Supreme Court, this Court has long been the local equivalent to the Senior Courts of England and Wales and has never been vested with the power of final adjudication.
The UCL Faculty of Laws is the law school of University College London (UCL), a member institution of the federal University of London. It is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties and is based in London, United Kingdom.
Solicitor advocate is a hybrid status which allows a solicitor in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong to represent clients in higher courts in proceedings that were traditionally reserved for barristers. The status does not exist in most other common law jurisdictions where, for the most part, all solicitors have rights of audience in higher courts.
The Government Law College, Mumbai,, India, founded in 1855, is the oldest law school in Asia. The college, affiliated to the University of Mumbai, is run by the Government of Maharashtra.
Sir William James Lynton Blair is a British retired judge. He was previously a Queen's Counsel at London barristers' chambers 3 Verulam Buildings, specialising in domestic and international banking and finance law. He is the elder brother of Sir Tony Blair, the former British prime minister.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law is a law school in Hong Kong.
Sir George Justin Lynskey was an English jurist, particularly remembered for his role in investigating the political scandal that led to the eponymous Lynskey tribunal.
The Dickson Poon School of Law is the law school of King's College London, itself part of the federal University of London, and serves as one of the nine schools of study within the college. It is situated on the Strand in the East Wing of Somerset House, in close proximity to the Royal Courts of Justice and the four Inns of Court in the heart of London's legal quarter. Among the most prestigious and selective law schools in the world, it is currently ranked in the global top 15 and fifth in both Europe and the UK.
Geoffrey Ma Tao-li is a retired Hong Kong judge who served as the 2nd Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal—the court of last resort in Hong Kong. Between 2001 and 2010, he held various positions in the High Court of Hong Kong, including Chief Judge, Justice of Appeal, and Judge of the Court of First Instance. Before his judicial career, he was a barrister-at-law in private practice at Temple Chambers, and was qualified to practice in England and Wales, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore.
