Teresa Cheng (politician)

The Honourable Teresa Cheng GBS, SC, JP
鄭若驊
Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 January 2018
Appointed by	Carrie Lam
Preceded by	Rimsky Yuen
Personal details
Born	(1958-11-11) 11 November 1958 Hong Kong
Spouse	Otto Poon
Residence(s)	Villa de Mer, Siu Lam 19 Severn Road, The Peak
Alma mater	King's College London (B. Sc.) University of London (LLB)
Profession	Arbitrator, barrister, engineer, politician

Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, GBS, SC, JP (Chinese: 鄭若驊; born 11 November 1958) is a Hong Kong Senior Counsel, arbitrator and politician. She has been the Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong since 6 January 2018. She was also the chairperson of the Financial Dispute Resolution Centre, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) and vice president of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration (ICCA).

Academic and legal career

Cheng graduated from the King's College London with the Bachelor of Science in Engineering and the University of London with the Bachelor of Laws. She was called to the Bar in England and Wales and Hong Kong in 1987 and in New South Wales, Australia in 1990, before Singapore in 1995. She was called to the Hong Kong Inner Bar in 2000. She has then been practicing at the Des Voeux Chambers, specialising in construction, international commercial transactions, joint venture contracts and investment arbitration, international arbitration and mediation. She has also sat as a Deputy Judge in the Court of First Instance of the High Court of Hong Kong.

Cheng also holds several academic positions. She is a Fellow of King’s College London, previously an honorary and visiting professor of the China University of Political Science and Law and the course director of the International Arbitration and Dispute Settlement Course at the School of Law, Tsinghua University and Adjunct Professor with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Cheng co-authored numerous books and articles, including "Construction Law and Practice in Hong Kong" and "Arbitration in Hong Kong: A Practical Guide", published by Sweet & Maxwell, and papers in the "International Council for Commercial Arbitration Congress Series", published by Kluwer Law International.

Public career

She has been appointed in various positions, previously serving as the chairperson for the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission, Transport Advisory Committee, Town Planning Appeal Board, Environmental Impact Assessment Appeal Board Panel, the Appeal Tribunal (Buildings) Panel and the Copyright Tribunal among others. She is the current chairperson of the Financial Dispute Resolution Centre and Air Transport Licensing Authority and a member of the Construction Industry Council and two Working Groups on Mediation in Hong Kong.

She is also the chairperson of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) and vice president of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). She was the first Asian woman to be elected as president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). In 2006 and 2011, she was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star and Gold Bauhinia Star by the Chief Executive Donald Tsang in recognition of her public service.

On 5 January 2018, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced her appointment as the Secretary for Justice with effect from the following day, succeeding the retiring Rimsky Yuen.

Secretary for Justice

Cheng was revealed there was an extra staircase seeming as illegal structures in her residence at Villa de Mer, Siu Lam, Tuen Mun before her first day in office on 6 January 2018. She apologised for the "inconvenience caused" for the illegal structures, admitting it was illegal but arguing that the including basements and rooftop structures on both properties. existed before she bought the residence. Lawrence Lok Ying-kam SC asked Cheng to consider her resignation. Further reports revealed, and confirmed by the Buildings Department inspectors that there were ten unauthorised extensions including the basements and the rooftop structures on both properties of her and of her husband Otto Poon Lok-to adjacent to her residence. It emerged in the media reports in the following days that a mortgage deed Cheng signed with the bank for the house did not mention the basement.

Personal life

Cheng is married to engineer Otto Poon Lok-to, former president of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. Their relationship was unknown to the public until she admitted to the public after the media widely reported the "illegal structures" of her residence next to Poon's.