Quick Facts
Biography
Thomas Au Hing-cheung (Chinese: 區慶祥; born 1963) is a Hong Kong judge, currently serving as a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong.
Biography
Early life
Born in Hong Kong in 1963, Au grew up in Hong Kong and received an LLB from the University of Hong Kong in 1996, the BCL from the University of Oxford in 1997, and a PCLL from the University of Hong Kong in 1998.
Legal career
Au was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 1998, and was in private practice between 1999 and 2007 as a member of Temple Chambers.
In 2007, Au left private practice and joined the bench as a District Judge, before being promoted to the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 2009. He served as President of the Lands Tribunal from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the Judge in charge of the Construction and Arbitration List from 2011 until 2 September 2012, when he was appointed as the Judge in charge of the Constitutional and Administrative Law List.
In 2019, Au was elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Legal profile
Due to his young age, and relatively quick rate of promotion since joining the Judiciary, he has been described as a "high flyer" within the Judiciary. He has also described as a judge “with a great sense of humour when not commenting on the law”, but who adopted a “technical” approach to his cases".
Personal life
Au was a member of the Civic Party from 2003 to 2006, when he left the party prior to appointment as a full-time Judge.