Maggie Yang
Maggie Yang | |
|---|---|
楊美琪 | |
| Director of Public Prosecutions | |
| Assumed office 13 August 2021 | |
| Preceded by | David Leung |
| Personal details | |
| Alma mater | University of Wales |
Maggie Yang Mei-kei JP (Chinese: 楊美琪) is a Hong Kong barrister and civil servant who has been serving as the Director of Public Prosecutions of Hong Kong (DPP) since 2021,[1] becoming the first woman to be appointed to the role.[2] She is also the first post-Handover DPP not to have taken silk at the time of appointment.[2]
Early life and education
Yang attended the University of Wales and graduated in 1989.[3]
Career
Yang was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1992, and in Hong Kong in 1993. She joined the Prosecutions Division of the then-Legal Department as a crown counsel the following year, and was successively promoted to senior crown counsel in 1996, deputy principal government counsel in 2012 and principal government counsel in 2019, spending most of her career as a prosecutor, except for a short stint in the Civil Division.[1]
In 2019, Yang was appointed deputy director of prosecutions, and later served as the lead prosecutor in the Hong Kong 47 case,[4] in which 47 pro-democracy politicians were prosecuted on national security charges for participating in an unofficial primary election.[5] She acted as director in rotation with deputy director William Tam after the resignation of David Leung, who left the Department of Justice in December 2020 after a conflict with Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng.[2]
Director of Public Prosecutions
Yang was formally made Director of Public Prosecutions on 13 August 2021, shortly after being called to the Bar in July 2021 following a 3-month pupillage under Anthony Houghton SC.[6] Had she remained a solicitor at the time of her appointment, she would have become the first solicitor to be appointed DPP.[7] The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China recommended in July 2022 that Yang be sanctioned for her leading role in political prosecutions.[8]
Speaking on an RTHK television programme on 23 April 2023, Yang said that "words are weapons" in relation to the national security law, and that if one's speech led other people to commit national security offences, it would be "impossible for them to be unscathed by the law".[9]
References
- ^ a b "Appointment of Director of Public Prosecutions (with photo)". www.info.gov.hk. Archived from the original on 2025-07-08. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ^ a b c "獨家｜楊美琪「坐正」 升任律政司刑檢科「一姐」". 星島頭條 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ^ Department of Justice (5 July 2021). "National Security Law Legal Forum" (PDF). www.legalhub.gov.hk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 May 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
- ^ "Lead lawyer in national security law case named Hong Kong's chief prosecutor". South China Morning Post. 2021-08-13. Archived from the original on 2023-09-24. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ^ "Maggie Yang Mei-kei appointed as head of prosecution". www.thestandard.com.hk. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ^ "楊美琪獲批大律師資格". 星島頭條 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ^ Kwan, Rhoda (2021-08-13). "Hong Kong appoints new prosecutions chief as protest and security law caseload piles up". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ^ Ho, Kelly (2022-07-14). "US gov't agency urges sanctions against Hong Kong prosecutors, as local gov't slams 'interference'". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ^ Lee, Peter (2023-04-24). "Words can be weapons, says Hong Kong head of prosecutions, as security chief says protests at risk of being 'hijacked'". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 2025-09-01.