23 Facts About Woo Kwok-hing

Woo Kwok-hing, GBS, CBE, QC is a Hong Kong retired judge.

Woo Kwok-hing was the vice-president of the Court of Appeal of the High Court and former chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission and commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance.

Woo Kwok-hing was educated at the Ying Wa College and graduated from the University of Birmingham with a bachelor's degree of laws in 1968 and University College London with a master's degree of laws in 1969.

Woo Kwok-hing said he wanted to be a lawyer after watching the film Witness for the Prosecution starring Charles Laughton.

Woo Kwok-hing was called to the English Bar in 1969 and the Hong Kong Bar in 1970.

Woo Kwok-hing was in private practice from 1970 to 1992.

Woo Kwok-hing was appointed Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 1992 and Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court in 2000.

Woo Kwok-hing was a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court and was appointed vice-president of the Court of Appeal of the High Court in 2004.

Woo Kwok-hing officially retired from the judiciary in January 2011 but continued to serve as deputy judge until 2016.

Woo Kwok-hing handled the first three Chief Executive elections, which were won by Tung Chee-hwa and Donald Tsang, in which he had to face public scrutiny and interpret election rules.

Woo Kwok-hing was criticised for allowing Tung to do his electioneering while still in office as Chief Executive in 2002.

Woo Kwok-hing resigned after less than a week to avoid potential accusations of lack of impartiality due to his working relationship with Fanny Law, former Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower.

Woo Kwok-hing became the first candidate to declare his campaign on 27 October 2016.

Woo Kwok-hing launched an offensive campaign against incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, questioning his achievements during his term, while Woo himself was questioned for his lack of experience in public administration.

Woo Kwok-hing proposed to expand the voter base for choosing the Election Committee to one million in the 2022 Chief Executive election from the current 250,000, rising to three million by 2032 and eventually quasi-universal suffrage.

Woo Kwok-hing's attendees included Andy Ho On-tat, former information coordinator during the Donald Tsang administration from 2006 to 2012.

Woo Kwok-hing later updated his platform adding the proposal of legislating Hong Kong Basic Law Article 22 which prohibiting mainland Chinese authorities for "meddling" in Hong Kong affairs as Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong had been accused of meddling with the city's elections.

Woo Kwok-hing made an emergency plea for support after getting just three nominations on the first day of the nomination period.

Woo Kwok-hing received only 21 votes in the 1,194-member Election Committee in the final election, becoming the lowest votes a Chief Executive candidate ever had, as his pro-democrat nominators switched side to John Tsang in order to boost Tsang's chance of winning.

Woo Kwok-hing has a sister named Teresa Wu Chiu-ha who is a kindergarten headmaster and a brother Woo Kwok-yin who is a lawyer.

Woo Kwok-hing is married to Rowena Tang Siu-ting, sister of Robert Tang, permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal.

Woo Kwok-hing's eldest son Alexander Woo married Yu Man-ying, daughter of entrepreneur Yu Ching-po, while his youngest son, Alan Woo, is a lawyer.

In March 2022, his son, Alan Woo Kwok-hing, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend.