Yang Ti-liang

The Honourable Dato Seri Paduka Sir
Ti-liang Yang
GBM
Life Member of the Court of HKU
In office
18 December 2001 – 24 June 2023
Serving with Sir Yuet-Keung Kan, Dr. Rayson Huang and Dr. Victor Fung
Chief Justice of Hong Kong
In office
1988–1996
Preceded bySir Denys Roberts
Succeeded bySir Noel Power (acting)
Unofficial Member of the
Executive Council
In office
1997–2002
Chief ExecutiveTung Chee-Hwa
ConvenorSir Sze-Yuen Chung
Leung Chun-ying
Personal details
Born(1929-06-30)30 June 1929
Shanghai, China
Died24 June 2023(2023-06-24) (aged 93)
Spouse(s)Tam Oi-lin [zh] (aka Eileen Barbara Tam; died 24 June 2006)
Children2
Alma materSoochow University Law School, Shanghai
LLB (University College, London)
Honorary DegreeHon LLD (CUHK)
Hon DLitt (HKU)
Hon LLD (PolyU)
Yang Ti-liang
Traditional Chinese楊鐵樑
Simplified Chinese杨铁梁
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYáng Tiěliáng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingjoeng4 tit3 loeng4

Sir Ti-liang Yang,[1] GBM (Chinese: 楊鐵樑; 30 June 1929 – 24 June 2023) was a Hong Kong judge. He was the Chief Justice of Hong Kong from 1988 to 1996, the only ethnic Chinese person to hold this office during British colonial rule.

Yang was a candidate in the 1996 Hong Kong Chief Executive election, where he lost to his opponent Tung Chee-Hwa. After the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, he was appointed a non-official member of the Executive Council by Tung and retired in 2002. In retirement, he mainly focused on writing and teaching English. In September 2003, he became the host of a RTHK radio programme, Yang Ti-liang Mail Box (楊鐵樑留言信箱), teaching English grammar. Yang died on 24 June 2023, at the age of 93.[2]

  1. ^ Yang Ti-liang never took an English name for himself, believing it to be unnecessary. He once stated that Sun Yat-sen likewise had no English name and he was "as famous as Sun". (得失之間 楊鐵樑, 壹週刊時事專訪, 7 August 2003)
  2. ^ 消息:前最高法院首席大法官楊鐵樑逝世 終年93歲 (in Chinese)