Prosecutions Division (Hong Kong)
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The Prosecutions Division (刑事檢控科) of the Department of Justice, is the public prosecution office in Hong Kong. The Prosecutions Division is the largest in the Department, with about 125 lawyers, known as 'Public Prosecutors', and about 115 lay prosecutors, known as 'Court Prosecutors'. The role of the Division is to prosecute trials and appeals on behalf of Hong Kong, to provide legal advice to law enforcement agencies upon their investigations, and generally to exercise on behalf of the Secretary for Justice the discretion of whether or not to bring criminal proceedings in Hong Kong. In addition, counsel in the Division provide advice and assistance to Government bureaux and departments in relation to any criminal law aspects of proposed legislation.
The Director of Public Prosecutions ("DPP") heads the Division as a Law Officer of the Department of Justice. The current Director of Public Prosecutions is Mr Keith Yeung, SC.
The DPP is responsible for directing the conduct of trials and appeals on behalf of Hong Kong, providing legal advice to law enforcement agencies (such as Hong Kong Police, Custom and ICAC), exercising the discretion of whether to institute criminal proceedings, and providing advice to others in government on proposed changes to the criminal law.
The lawyers of the Prosecution Division in the former British Hong Kong colonial administration were, before 1997, titled "Crown Counsel"(檢察官). After the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, they were renamed "Government Counsel" (政府律師). In 2007, to highlight their constitutional independence, lawyers working in the Prosecutions Division adopted the alternative title of "Public Prosecutor" (檢控官).
Former Crown Prosecutors
- David Boy, QC (1979-1982)
- Max Lucas, QC (1982-1984)
- Joseph Duffy, QC (1984-1986)
- James Findlay, QC (1986-1989)
- Anthony Duckett, QC (Acting, 1989-1990)
- John Wood, CB, JP (1990-1994)
- Peter Nguyen, QC, SC (1994-1997)
Directors of Public Prosecutions
- Peter Nguyen, QC, SC (1997)
- Grenville Cross, QC, SC (1997-2009)[1]
- Ian Charles McWalters, SC (2010-2011)
- Kevin Zervos, SC (2011-2013)[2]
- Keith Yeung Ka-hung, SC (2013-2017)
- Martin Hui, SC (Acting, 2017)
- David Leung, SC (2017-)
References
External links
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