Yang Ti-liang

In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisYang.

The HonourableDato Seri Paduka Sir Ti-liang Yang GBM
Life Member of the Court ofHKU
In office 18 December 2001 – 24 June 2023 Serving withSir Yuet-Keung Kan,Dr.Rayson Huangand Dr.Victor Fung
Chief Justice of Hong Kong
In office 1988–1996
Preceded by	Sir Denys Roberts
Succeeded by	SirNoel Power(acting)
Unofficial Member of the Executive Council
In office 1997–2002
Chief Executive	Tung Chee-Hwa
Convenor	Sir Sze-Yuen Chung Leung Chun-ying
Personal details
Born	(1929-06-30)30 June 1929 Shanghai,China
Died	24 June 2023(2023-06-24)(aged 93)
Spouse(s)	Tam Oi-lin(aka Eileen Barbara Tam; died 24 June 2006)
Children	2
Alma mater	Soochow University Law School,Shanghai LLB (University College, London)
Honorary Degree	Hon LLD (CUHK) Hon DLitt (HKU) Hon LLD (PolyU)

Yang Ti-liang
Traditional Chinese	Dương thiết lương
Simplified Chinese	Dương thiết lương
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yáng Tiěliáng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping joeng4 tit3 loeng4

Sir Ti-liang Yang,GBM(Chinese:Dương thiết lương;30 June 1929 – 24 June 2023) was a Hong Kong judge. He was theChief Justice of Hong Kongfrom 1988 to 1996, the onlyethnic Chineseperson to hold this office during British colonial rule.

Yang was a candidate in the1996 Hong Kong Chief Executive election,where he lost to his opponentTung Chee-Hwa.After thetransfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong,he was appointed a non-official member of theExecutive Councilby Tung and retired in 2002. In retirement, he mainly focused on writing and teaching English. In September 2003, he became the host of aRTHKradio programme,Yang Ti-liang Mail Box(Dương thiết lương lưu ngôn tín tương), teaching English grammar. Yang died on 24 June 2023, at the age of 93.

Early life

Yang was born in Shanghai on 30 June 1929. He attended St. John's Middle School (same foundation asSt. John's University) in his early years and read law in the Comparative Law School of China inSoochow University Law Schoolin Shanghai from 1946 to 1949. Due to theChinese Civil War,he moved very briefly to Hong Kong before graduating, where he stayed atSt. John's Hallin 1949.Then he moved to England to read law atUniversity College London,where he graduated with anLLBwith honours in 1953. In 1954, he was called to the bar with honours atGray's Inn.After studying in England, Yang returned to Hong Kong in 1955.

Judicial career

In June 1956, Yang was offered a post asmagistrate,which he accepted, and, in 1963, he was promoted to senior magistrate. Yang was actingDistrict Judgefrom 1964 to 1968. During that period, he was chairman of theKowloon DisturbancesClaims Assessment Board and following the1967 Leftist Riots,he also presided over the Compensation Board. In 1968, he was appointed District Judge of theVictoria District Courtand was made a member of the Chinese Language Committee and president of the Legal Sub-Committee in 1970. Yang was, for a brief period in 1971, actingPuisne Judge.

In 1972, he was appointed Commissioner of Inquiry into the Rainstorm Disasters. On 17 February 1975, he presided over the watershed corruption trial ofPeter Fitzroy Godber,a formerKowloonDeputy District Commissioner of theRoyal Hong Kong Police Force.Yang sentenced him to four years' imprisonment after a six-day trial. That same year, Yang was promoted to Judge of theHigh Court of Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong.In 1976, he chaired the Commission of Inquiry into the Leung Wing-sang case in which a station sergeant, Lau Cheong-wah, allegedly induced Leung with HK$10,000 to confess to wounding another person. In 1980, Yang was chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into the apparent suicide of Inspector John MacLennan.

Yang was appointed aJustice of Appealin 1981 and, six years later, Vice-President. In March 1988, Yang was appointedChief Justice of Hong Kong(the then chief judge of the Court of Appeal) following recommendation of theGovernorSir David Wilson.This was the first time anethnic Chinesehad held this office. Prior to the appointment, he also received aknighthoodfromQueen Elizabeth IIin theNew Year Honours List.According to customary practice, Chief Justices of Hong Kong would also become Chief Justice ofBrunei Darussalam.Yang's predecessor, however,Sir Denys Tudor Emil Roberts,continued to serve as Chief Justice of Brunei Darussalam after his retirement. Sir TL was instead appointed president of the Court of Appeal of Brunei on 24 May 1988.

Chief Executive election

In 1996, Yang tendered his resignation to then governorChris Pattenin order to clear the way for his candidacy in thefirst ever Chief Executive election.In addition, he renounced hisBritish citizenshipand wrote a letter to QueenElizabeth IIto give up his knighthood.Before the election, he organised a series of campaigns, including visitingpublic housing estates,and travelled on theMass Transit Railwaysubway system for the first time in his life. On 11 December 1996, the small-circleElection CommitteeselectedTung Chee Hwa,a shipping magnate, over Yang to beChief Executive.The vote was 320 to 42.

Yang was appointed a Non-Official Member of theExecutive Councilby Tung soon after the establishment of theHong Kong Special Administrative Region.During his tenure in the Council, he was chairman of theExchange Fund Investment Ltdfrom 1998 to 2002 and was responsible to the management of theTracker Fund of Hong Kong.From 1999 to 2004, he was also chairman of theIndependent Commission Against CorruptionComplaints Committee.

Public service

From 1981 to 1984, Yang was chairman of theUniversity and Polytechnic Grants Committee.From 1985 to 2001, he was chairman of theUniversity of Hong KongCouncil. He was also Pro-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong from 1994 to 2001. In 2000, during his Pro-Chancellorship, he was designated by the university to investigate thePublic Opinion Programme Disputes.

In 1988, he was elected an Honorary Bencher ofGray's Inn.He served as President of the Bentham Club atUniversity College Londonin 1991. From 1998 to 2012, he was chairman of theHong Kong Red Cross;in June 2012, he assumed the honorary position of President.

After retiring from the Executive Council in 2002, Yang spent much of his time teachingEnglish grammarandetiquette.In September 2003, he hosted aRadio Television Hong Kongradio programme,Yang Ti-liang Mail Box(Dương thiết lương lưu ngôn tín tương), teaching English grammar and answering questions on his website. He was honorary professor of Chinese at theUniversity of Hong Kongfrom 1998. In 2005, he was appointed honorary professor and chairman of the Executive Committee of the School of Law by theChinese University of Hong Kong.In 2006, he was made honorary professor of Social Sciences at theOpen Universityof Hong Kong.

Translated works

Yang translatedChinese classicsinto English, including:

• General Yue Fei,1995 (《 thuyết nhạc toàn truyện 》)
• The Peach Blossom Fan,1998 (《 đào hoa phiến 》)
• Officialdom Unmasked,2001 (《 quan tràng hiện hình ký 》)

Honours

He wasknightedin 1988.He was appointed aJustice of Peacefrom 1 July 1998 to 2012.He was awarded theGrand Bauhinia Medalby theGovernment of Hong Kong Special Administrative Regionin 1999 to acknowledge his contribution to justice and higher education in Hong Kong.

Honorary degrees

• Hon.LLD,Chinese University of Hong Kong,1984
• Hon.DLitt,University of Hong Kong,1991
• Hon.LLD,Hong Kong Polytechnic,1992

Fellows

• University College London,1989
• Chartered Institute of Arbitrators,1990

See also

• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
• Tung Chee Hwa

Additional sources

English materials

• Former Chief Justice warns not to let language deteriorate,Pensioners' Corner, Civil Service Newsletter Editorial Board, retrieved on 1 September
• The Hon. Sir Ti Liang Yang, GBM, JP Curriculum Vitae,Hong Kong Red Cross,2005
• Information Paper for the Joint Meeting of the Panel on Security and Panel on Health Services to be held on 29 April 2003,Hong Kong Legislative Council,retrieved on 1 September 2007
• HISTORY,Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam, retrieved on 1 September 2007
• American Journal of Sociology,Vol. 116, No. 3 (Nov 2010) pp. 1046–1052 by Barbara Celarent

Chinese materials

• Đắc thất chi gian dương thiết lương,Nhất chu khan thời sự chuyên phóng, 7 August 2003
• Dương thiết lương giản giới,Dương thiết lương lưu ngôn tín tương,RTHK,retrieved on 1 September 2007
• Taigu Jituan Zaijiu ZhongguoShanghai Renmin Chuban She 1991

External links

• Sir TL's Website by RTHK(in Chinese)
• CV of Sir TL Yang,Hong KongRed Cross
• Yang, Sir Ti-liang,address from HKU