Lo Hin Shing

Lo Hin-shing (; 1889 – 2 January 1989) was a barrister and magistrate of Hong Kong. Educated in China, Hong Kong and Cambridge, he was called to the English and Hong Kong bar in the 1920s. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, he was obliged by the Japanese authority to give his opinion on matters of English law. After the World War II, he became one of the first Chinese to be appointed as magistrate. His magisterial life spanned some 17 years until his final retirement in 1970.

Early life and studies

Lo Hin-shing was born in Hong Kong in 1889. His ancestral village was in Taishan in Guangdong Province of China, to which he was sent at the age of 5 to receive classical Chinese education in the ancestral halls. :1–7 In 1905, at the age of 16, he returned to Hong Kong to study English at Queen's College, the prestigious government central school. Lo was appointed Head Prefect in 1912. He also frequently contributed essays to The Yellow Dragon, the school's magazine.

In 1919, Lo was admitted to Trinity Hall, Cambridge to study law. In 1922, Lo passed the Bar final examinations. On 26 June 1923, he was called to the English Bar at Inner Temple under the sponsorship of Sir Edward Clarke KC and Mr. Travers Humphreys. He took his MA at Cambridge in October 1925. During his years at Cambridge he was the president of the Chinese Students’ Union.

Japanese occupation

During the Japanese occupation, an Association of Lawyers was formed under the direction of the Japanese authority. The association consisted of 11 local legal practitioners, 2 Chinese lawyers and 1 Taiwan scholar. Lo was elected chairman. The other local lawyers included Mr. P. C. Woo, Mr. Peter Sin, Mr. Lee Hon Chi, Mr. Alfred Hon, Sir M. K. Lo, Mr. M. W. Lo and Mr. George She. He was legendary for being one of the first Chinese magistrates in Hong Kong.

On the occasion of his first retirement in 1959, Chief Justice Hogan wrote the following in a valedictory letter:

Passing

Lo died at the age of 100 on 2 January 1989.

Personal life and beliefs

Lo was married and had two sons (Kenneth Lo Kwong-ki and Clement Lo Kwong-chi) and a daughter (Helen Lo Hoi-lun, also Lo Helen Andrene).

In his memoirs, Lo argued for keeping death penalty on the statute book of Hong Kong, so that an "extremely wicked and atrocious condemnes murderer" can be hanged at the Governor's discretion and with the advice of the Executive Council. He distinguished such a man from one who commits a murder under a loss of control or the influence of an unbalanced mind, who should not be hanged lest "creating a vicious cycle contrary to humanity".