Annie Leung 梁慧敏
Call : 2006 (HK), 2004 (Australia)
Set : Main
Practice Areas
Administrative and Public LawChanceryCommercial LawCriminal LawEmploymentFamily LawLand and Property LawMediationRegulatory and DisciplinaryTort and Personal Injuries
Contact
Phone : +852 2810 7222 Email : [email protected] Secretary : Shayne Lau [email protected]

Annie was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 2006, in addition to her admission as a Barrister and Solicitor in Australia in 2004. She has since practiced with an emphasis on criminal, public, discrimination law and mediation.

Annie has a broad criminal practice, where she has acted as both defence counsel as well as acting as prosecutor-on-fiat at trial and appeals at all levels of Court. Annie’s spectrum of criminal cases ranges from general crime, departmental summonses to commercial crime such as matters that are initiated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). She also deputised as a Magistrate in 2017.

Aside from criminal law, Annie has a wide public and administrative law practice which has seen her appearing and advising in cases involving constitutional law, human rights, and reviews of government’s or other public authorities’ decisions. Annie’s instructions range from decisions concerning constitutional rights, immigration, town planning, land and broadcasting issues. She is also regularly instructed to represent parties in cases of non-refoulement claims made under the Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment at the first instance and appellate levels.

Annie has a strong grasp and understanding of discrimination law and has appeared in many cases at both first instance and appellate levels which has seen her advising on various kinds of discrimination, including discrimination on the grounds of disability, sex, race, pregnancy, sexual orientation and religion. A nod to her expertise, she was appointed as an external Investigator and Conciliator of the Equal Opportunities Commission. She has also co-authored a book on discrimination: Discrimination Law and Practice in Hong Kong, Sweet & Maxwell.

Annie has a general civil practice involving, among others, commercial law, matrimonial law, personal injuries, employment law, land law and building management. She has been a Lecturer of the Civil Litigation course in the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) programme at The University of Hong Kong.

Annie is an Accredited Mediator. She regularly acts as a mediator in cases of different nature and varying complexity, such as commercial, landlord and tenant, building management, discrimination, family and children, employment, personal injury arising from potentially criminal conduct, general personal injury and medical negligence. Annie is on the panel of mediators of Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), Hong Kong Mediation Accreditation Association Limited (HKMAAL) and the Hong Kong Bar Association. Further, she has been a Lecturer and Mediation Assessment Assessor of the Commercial Dispute Resolution course of the PCLL programme in The University of Hong Kong. She is also a committee member of the Mediation Committee of the Hong Kong Bar Association.

 


  • • Called to the Hong Kong Bar (2006)
  • • Admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor in the State of Victoria, Australia (2004)
  • • Accredited Mediator, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) (2009 – now)
  • • Accredited Mediator, Hong Kong Bar Association (2009 – now)
  • • Accredited Mediator, Hong Kong Mediator Accreditation Association (HKMAAL) (2013 – now)

  • • Deputy Magistrate (2017)
  • • Committee Member, Mediation Committee of the Hong Kong Bar Association (2023 – now)
  • • Lecturer (non-clinical) & Mediation Assessment Assessor, Commercial Dispute Resolution Course in Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL), The University of Hong Kong (2016 – 2017, 2019 – 2022)
  • • Lecturer (non-clinical), Civil Litigation Course in Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL), The University of Hong Kong (2012 – 2017)
  • • Committee Member, Civic Education Committee of the Hong Kong Bar Association (2013 – 2019)
  • • Committee Member, Constitutional Affairs & Human Rights Committee of the Hong Kong Bar Association (2012 – 2013)
  • • External Investigator and Conciliator, Equal Opportunities Commission (2009)
  • • Committee Member, Young Barristers’ Committee of The Hong Kong Bar Association (2007 – 2012)

Discrimination Law and Practice in Hong Kong, Co-Author, Sweet & Maxwell (2011)


Criminal Law

Vivien Fan and others v HKSAR [2011] 14 HKCFAR 641
A 5-day Court of Final Appeal case concerning various charges of conspiracy among company directors, bank executives, partners in firms of solicitors and an accountant, to defraud the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, the Securities and Futures Commission and shareholders of a listed company.

HKSAR v Leung Kwok Hung [2014] 17 HKCFAR 396
Acted for the applicant in the Court of Final Appeal to apply for bail pending the disposal of the application for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal regarding convictions for criminal damage and behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place.

HKSAR v Habibullah Abdul Rahman and others [2010] 4 HKC 301
A 15-day Court of Appeal case concerning various charges of conspiracy among company directors, bank executives, partners in firms of solicitors and an accountant, to defraud the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, the Securities and Futures Commission and shareholders of a listed company.

HKSAR v Lin Chong-Ming and others DCCC 962/2009 (1 August 2011)
A 27-day District Court trial concerning charges of conspiracy among PCCW limited employees to defraud PCCW limited.

HKSAR v Ooi In-Heong and others DCCC 962/2009 (9 June 2010)
A 25-day District Court trial concerning charges relating to offences of conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to tender counterfeit currency notes and possession of false instruments.

香港特別行政區  趙嘉賢 HCMA 897/2011 (14 January 2013)
A Magistracy appeal case concerning a charge of knowingly making a false statement to the Housing Authority.

香港特別行政區  甄沛強 HCMA 484/2011 (24 April 2012)
A Magistracy appeal case concerning a charge of criminal damage and issues regarding the mens rea of the defendant.

Public Law and Human Rights Related Criminal Cases

Secretary for Justice v Yau Yuk Lung [2007] 10 HKCFAR 335; [2007] 3 HKLRD 903
A Court of Final Appeal case concerning the constitutionality of the then homosexual buggery provision in the crimes ordinance and issues regarding the right to equality and discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation. This case laid down the “justification test” in dealing with differences in legal treatment.

HKSAR v Au Kwok Kuen [2010] 3 HKLRD 371
An appeal against conviction for taking part in an unlawful assembly, concerning issues regarding the right of assembly, the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy.

Public and Administrative Law / Judicial Review

Po Fun Chan v Winnie Cheung [2007] 10 HKCFAR 676; [2008] 1 HKLRD 319
A landmark Court of Final Appeal case which revisited the requirement for leave to apply for judicial review, raising the threshold to “arguability”.

Leung Kwok Hung also known as “Long Hair” v Commissioner of Correctional Services [2020] 23 HKCFAR 456 (CFA); [2018] 2 HKLRD 933 (CA) and [2017] 1 HKLRD 1041 (CFI)
Acted for the applicant (whose hair was cut short during imprisonment) in judicial review proceedings in the Court of Final Appeal, Court of Appeal and Court of First Instance to challenge the hair-cutting requirement imposed by the Commissioner of Correctional Services which stated that male prisoners’ hair had to be cut short but not female prisoners, on article 25 of the basic law of the HKSAR and section 5(1)(a) of the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, cap 480 (direct discrimination).

Commissioner of Police v i-Cable Communications Ltd. HCMP 119/2016 (8 March 2016)
Acted for i-Cable Communications Limited to resist the Commissioner of Police’s application for a production order to produce journalistic materials, concerning issues regarding the freedom, integrity and impartiality of the press.

Wong Hin Wai v Secretary for Justice [2012] 4 HKLRD 70
Acted for the applicant in judicial review proceedings to challenge the constitutionality of the provisions under the legislative council ordinance which disqualified him from being nominated as a candidate at the legislative council election, concerning issues regarding the right to stand for election and the right to participate in public life.

Gig Lok Monastery Limited v Director of Lands HCAL 86/2011
Acted for the applicant in judicial review proceedings who sought to quash the decisions of the director of lands requiring, inter alia, the applicant to cease to occupy the adjacent government land.

Cho Man Kit v Broadcasting Authority HCAL 69/2007 (8 May 2008)
Acted for the applicant in judicial review proceedings who sought to quash the broadcasting authority’s determination that the content of a television programme called ‘gay lovers’ and the time of its broadcast had violated its code of practice, on the grounds that the determination had unlawfully interfered with the freedom of expression, the right to equality and had unlawfully discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation.

Chu Woan Chyi and others v Director of Immigration [2007] 3 HKC 168
Acted for the applicants in judicial review proceedings to challenge the Director of Immigration’s decisions to place the applicants under the immigration “watchlist” and not permitting them to enter Hong Kong, on the grounds of freedom of religious belief, freedom of religious association, and legitimate expectation of procedural fairness.

Discrimination Law

Secretary for Justice v Yau Yuk Lung [2007] 10 HKCFAR 335; [2007] 3 HKLRD 903 (CFA), see above.

M v Secretary for Justice [2009] 2 HKLRD 298
Acted for an ex-administrative officer (AO) in the Court of Appeal for his disability discrimination claim against the government, concerning issues regarding the suitable comparator, causation and the “inherent requirements of the particular employment” defence.

Leung Kwok Hung also known as “Long Hair” v Commissioner of Correctional Services [2020] 23 HKCFAR 456 (CFA); [2018] 2 HKLRD 933 (CA) and [2017] 1 HKLRD 1041 (CFI), see above.

Cho Man Kit v Broadcasting Authority HCAL 69/2007 (8 May 2008), see above.

Trust and probate

Leung Lai Fong v Ho Sin Ying [2008] 5 HKLRD 193
A Court of Appeal case concerning succession and grant of administration, concerning issues regarding the construction of the intestates’ estates ordinance and the non-contentious probate rules, the right to family life, the right to equality and Chinese Customary Law.

Costs

Commissioner of Police v i-Cable Communications Ltd. HCMP 119/2016 (14 March 2016) 
Acted for i-Cable Communications limited to apply for costs to be taxed on an indemnity basis against the Commissioner of Police.