Club Lunch: Contesting For The Top Job In Hong Kong

The speaker was the first person to make public the intention to run in the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive race, which takes place on March 26, 2017. Although the race is regarded as a “small circle election” where the majority of the Hong Kong registered voters cannot participate, former Judge Woo shared his campaign manifesto, and his vision for Hong Kong.

Woo Kwok-Hing was born in Hong Kong in 1946 to a family of 10 children. He matriculated from Ying Wah College in 1965 and pursued the study of law in England. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws from Birmingham University in 1968, a Master of Laws from University College, London, in 1969, and was called to the Bar in England and Wales by Gray’s Inn the same year. He returned to Hong Kong in 1970 and apprenticed under Mr Ronald Arculli for six months before being called to the Hong Kong Bar and began his practice as a barrister. He became Queen’s Counsel in 1987. In 1992 he joined the judiciary and served respectively as High Court judge, Court of Appeal Judge and Vice-President of the Court of Appeal until his retirement in 2012. Following his retirement, he returned to the judiciary to serve as Deputy High Court judge until his resignation on 18 Oct 2016, to devote himself full-time to the 2017 election of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive.