Michael Hartmann

Michael John Hartmann GBS is a Hong Kong judge. He is Chairman of the Market Misconduct Tribunal and the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal in Hong Kong.

Early life and education

Hartmann was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), British India on 24 July 1944 to a British father and an Australian mother. He was raised near Orange, New South Wales, Australia. He holds Australian citizenship.

Hartmann moved to England at the age of nine. He attended St Edmund's College in Ware, Hertfordshire. His parents subsequently settled in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where he joined them in after completing his schooling. After university, he completed national service in the Rhodesian Army.

In 1998, Hartmann was appointed as a Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court of Hong Kong. From 2010 to 2012, Hartmann primarily sat in the Court of Appeal and heard two cases in the Court of Final Appeal.

In 2011, Hartmann was appointed as Chairman of the Market Misconduct Tribunal and the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal for a three-year term from December 2011 to November 2014.

In 2012, Hartmann retired from the Court of Appeal. He was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star by the Chief Executive. He continued to serve as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal until 2016.

In 2013, Hartmann sat as a Deputy High Court Judge.

In 2014, Hartmann was re-appointed as Chairman of the Market Misconduct Tribunal and the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal for another three-year term until November 2017. In 2017, his appointment was extended for a further three-year term until November 2020.

In 2018, Hartmann was appointed as Chairman and Commissioner of the Commission of Inquiry into the Diaphragm Wall and Platform Slab Construction Works at the Hung Hom Station Extension under the Shatin to Central Link Project.

In 2020, Hartmann's appointment as Chairman of the Market Misconduct Tribunal and the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal was extended again for another three-year term until November 2023. In 2023, his term was further extended until November 2026.

Novels

Hartmann is the author of eight novels published between 1975 and 1993. He wrote four adventure thrillers set in Africa and four more set in Hong Kong and Asia.

His African novels are Game for Vultures (1975), Leap for the Sun (1976), and the two-novel Ben Dryden series — Shadow of the Leopard (1979) and Days of Thunder (1980) — featuring a recurring journalist protagonist working in Africa. His Hong Kong novels are A Web of Dragons (1987), The Phoenix Pact (1988), Tigers of Deceit (1990), and Horses of Vengeance (1993).