Jose-Antonio Maurellet elected as new chairman of Hong Kong Bar Association

Jose-Antonio Maurellet has been elected the new chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association on Thursday, succeeding Victor Dawes to take the top spot of the professional organization for all barristers in the city.

"Upholding the honour and independence of the Bar is the foundation of our endeavours," Maurellet noted in his chairman's message.

He said the Bar Association will continue to prescribe and maintain the highest standards of professional conduct, discipline and etiquette.

"We also aim to promote Hong Kong’s justice system and status as a centre for international dispute resolution, to strengthen the relations between the Bar and lawyers outside Hong Kong, and to provide common law education in the rest of the country."

Speaking to reporters after the election, the new chairman Jose-Antonio Maurellet expressed gratitude to his predecessor Victor Dawes and the association’s council members for serving the association, the legal profession, and the general public over the past three years.

“Around three-quarters of [25] members of the previous Bar council have been retained, or re-elected this term. This demonstrated the unity of the Bar, and that we are heading in the same direction,” he said.
He added the association would continue its previous works in maintaining the rule of law and judicial independence in the city, as well as to explain the rule of law of Hong Kong overseas.

The association, as a professional body, will continue to maintain professionalism, and continue to express professional views on major rule of law issues from a legal perspective, he said, while he added that the association has been exploring how to offer citizens a more comprehensive free legal service.

When asked about the departures of five non-permanent judges at the Court of Final Appeal last year, Maurellet said although the number of NPJ had been down to six from previously 15 in pre-pandemic times, he believed it would not affect the apex court in handling cases.

Maurellet was born in 1978 in Hong Kong and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in 1999. 

He further obtained his P.C.LL. from the University of Hong Kong in 2000 and was called to the Hong Kong Bar in the same year. 

He was appointed as Senior Counsel in 2016 and has been in private practice since 2001. 

He was appointed as Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court for periods from 2018 to 2021. He has been appointed as Recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court since 2021.

Separately, Senior Counsels Martin Hui Siu-ting and Sit Yat-wah have been elected as the new vice-chairman.

Incumbent Eugene Yim Wing-tsang and Martin Wong Wing-hoi both stayed as the secretary and treasurer, as well as the deputy position.

(Eunice Lam)