羅麗萍

English

Phillis Loh Lai-ping is a District Judge of Hong Kong. She was born in Hong Kong and obtained her LL.B. and Postgraduate Certificate in Laws from the University of Hong Kong in 1987 and 1988 respectively. She qualified as a solicitor in Hong Kong in 1990 and, in 1991, as a solicitor in England and in the Australian Capital Territory; in 1998 she was called to the Hong Kong Bar. She was in private practice from 1990 and therefore holds both solicitor and barrister qualifications. Before becoming a substantive judge she sat as a Deputy District Judge and as a Deputy Registrar of the High Court in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2022, gaining practical experience of District Court trials and of judicial administration. On 17 June 2024 the Judiciary announced her appointment as a District Judge with effect from 18 June 2024. The appointment was made by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission, in line with Article 88 of the Basic Law, under which judges of the courts of the HKSAR are appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of an independent commission. The District Court is one of the courts of first instance of Hong Kong, sitting immediately below the High Court. It hears civil claims of moderate value and the more serious criminal cases that are not reserved for the High Court, and a District Judge's sentencing power is generally capped at seven years' imprisonment. Trials are conducted without a jury, the judge deciding both fact and law; by virtue of the Lands Tribunal Ordinance, District Judges and deputy District Judges are presiding officers of the Lands Tribunal, and the court also has a Family Court. Article 85 of the Basic Law provides that the courts exercise judicial power independently, free from any interference. Coming from private practice and having served first on a deputy basis, Loh is one of the more recently appointed members of the District Court bench, and her career spans both branches of the legal profession.