Elsie Leung Oi-sie, GBM, JP (; born 24 April 1939) is a Hong Kong politician and

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

. She was

Secretary for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

of Hong Kong from 1997 to 2005 and a member of the

Executive Council of Hong Kong The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the Chief Executive. It is ...

Early life and education

Leung was born in Hong Kong to a family originating from Nanhai region,

Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...

, China. She was educated in Hong Kong, at

Chung Wah Middle School The Chung Wah Middle School () was a leftist school located at 1 Chico Terrace, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. It opened in 1926 and was shut down by the Hong Kong Government for its involvement in the 1967 riots. Following the 1997 Handover, some alumni ...

(a leftist school shut down by the government),

Sacred Heart Canossian College Sacred Heart Canossian College ( Chinese: 嘉諾撒聖心書院; abbr: 'SHCC') is a Catholic, all-girls' school established at Robinson and Caine Roads, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. Founded in 1860, the school currently serves under 2,000 students a ...

(formerly known as Italian Convent School and Sacred Heart School) and the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

. Leung passed her Law Society Qualifying Examinations in 1967 and obtained her

LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree from the

in 1988. She is a past President of the

International Federation of Women Lawyers The International Federation of Women Lawyers (IFWL), in Spanish ''Federación Internacional de Abogadas'' (FIDA), is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that enhances the status of women and children by providing legal aid, legal ...

Legal career

Elsie Leung qualified as a solicitor in 1967 and entered practice a year later. She was a partner at local

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

s P. H. Sin & Co. and Iu, Lai & Li Solicitors, specialising in matrimonial law. She served on various government boards and committees, including the Independent Police Complaints Council, Equal Opportunities Commission, Social Welfare Advisory Committee and Inland Revenue Board of Review. She was also honorary legal adviser to many non-governmental organisations.

Political career

Leung was a founding member of the pro-Beijing

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) is a pro-Beijing conservative political party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Starry Lee and holding 13 Legislative Council seats, it is currently the largest party in the l ...

(DAB). She was appointed as a Delegate of the People's Congress of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

in 1989. In 1993, she was appointed as a Delegate of the 8th

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...

as well as a

Hong Kong Affairs Adviser Hong Kong Affairs Advisers () were appointed by the Chinese government after the last Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten carried out his electoral reform in the British Hong Kong, in the eve of the handover of the sovereignty of the city-state fr ...

. In the period leading up to the handover, Leung advised the Chief Executive Designate of the

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

on legal matters relating to the establishment of the HKSAR.

Secretary for Justice

On 1 July 1997, Leung became the first

of the

, replacing

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Jeremy Mathews. She was the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

's chief legal adviser and an ''ex officio'' member of the Executive Council. She headed the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

which has a staff of over 1,000, of whom about 290 are lawyers. She is currently the Chairman of the Law Reform Commission, the Committee on Bilingual Legal System, the Legal Practitioners' Liaison Committee and serves on numerous committees, including the Fight Crime Committee and the Operations Review Committee of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Leung was awarded the

Grand Bauhinia Medal The Grand Bauhinia Medal () is the highest award under the Hong Kong honours and awards system; it is to recognise the selected person's lifelong and highly significant contribution to the well-being of Hong Kong. The awardee is entitled to the ...

in July 2002 for her "distinguished public service", and for her "significant contributions in ensuring the successful implementation of the new constitutional order under the

One country, two systems "One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. The constitutional principle was formulated in the early ...

concept". She retired from office in October 2005.

Controversies and views

Leung was involved in controversy in 1999 when, as Secretary for Justice, she refused to prosecute

Sally Aw Aw Sian also known as Sally Aw, OBE, DStJ, JP, (born 1932) is a Hong Kong businesswoman and daughter of the British Raj Burma-born entrepreneur and newspaper proprietor Aw Boon-haw. Sally Aw was nicknamed ''Tiger Balm Lady'' as well as ''Ch ...

over the circulation fraud at '' The Standard''. The

Hong Kong Bar Association The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) is the professional regulatory body for barristers in Hong Kong. The Law Society of Hong Kong is the equivalent association for solicitors in Hong Kong. Victor Dawes SC is the current chairman of the Cou ...

accused her of being "careless" in her handling of the case for failing to ensure that justice was seen to be done. The

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

backed legal-sector legislator

Margaret Ng Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee (; born 25 January 1948) is a politician, barrister, writer and columnist in Hong Kong. She was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1995 to 2012. Biography Before entering the legal profession, Margaret ...

motion of no-confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. However, during the Legislative Council vote, the

objected to government lobbying. It accused the Tung administration of applying "back door" pressure on them to support Leung. The Liberals abstained in the vote, and party deputy chairman

Ronald Arculli Ronald Joseph Arculli, GBM, GBS, CVO, OBE, JP (; born 2 January 1939 in Hong Kong) is former chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Non-official Members Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong (Exco) and a senior partner at ...

staged a walk-out. The Hong Kong government however expressed full confidence in Leung, saying that in all the above cases she had acted entirely in accordance with the Basic Law and the prosecution policy of the Department of Justice. In March 2021, after Beijing announced changes to restrict the influence of district councillors as well as filtering potential Legislative Council members through the

election committee The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college, the function of which is to select the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, to elect 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong ...

, Leung claimed that Hong Kong could still move towards democracy after things "return to the right track." In April 2021, Leung claimed that moves to ensure only "patriots" serve in the government did not go against the principles of having a "high degree of autonomy," and claimed that such changes were not designed for "taking steps back" in democratic progress. In November 2022, Leung privately shared that she backed the Court of Final Appeal's decision which allowed

Jimmy Lai Lai Chee-ying ( zh, link=no, t=黎智英, born 8 December 1947), also known as Jimmy Lai, is a Hong Kong busniessman and a politician. He founded Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer, Next Digital (formerly Next Media), a Hong Kong-listed med ...

to hire

Tim Owen Timothy Francis Owen (born 29 October 1955) is a former Australian politician and a former deputy commander of the Australian Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the elector ...

, and that the

NPCSC The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...

interpretation to ban foreign lawyers was not necessary, citing Xi Jinping's message that Hong Kong maintain the use of the common law system. However, Leung said she was not opposed to

John Lee John Lee may refer to: Academia * John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society * John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal * John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), English ...

asking the NPCSC to step in.

References

External links

US-Asia Institute: The Honorable Elsie Leung
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leung, Elsie 1939 births Living people Government officials of Hong Kong Secretaries for Justice of Hong Kong Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Solicitors of Hong Kong Place of birth missing (living people) Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong politicians New Hong Kong Alliance politicians Progressive Hong Kong Society politicians Hong Kong Affairs Advisors Hong Kong women lawyers Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong China Resources people Female justice ministers Women members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Delegates to the 8th National People's Congress