Noel Power

Sir Noel Plunkett Power, (Traditional Chinese: 鮑偉華爵士, 4 December 1929 – 19 November 2009) was a senior judge in Hong Kong and Brunei Darussalam. He had been a barrister-at-law in his home-country Australia when he joined the judiciary of Hong Kong in 1965 as a magistrate in the Lands Tribunal. Since then, he had been successively promoted as President of the Lands Tribunal, a puisne judge of the Supreme Court and vice-president of the Court of Appeal. In 1996, he became acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court when Sir Ti-liang Yang resigned and contested for the first ever election of the Chief Executive. After the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from Britain to People's Republic of China in 1997, he was appointed vice-president of the Court of Appeal of the High Court. He retired from the High Court in 1999 but remained as a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal.

Power was honoured with a knighthood and a Gold Bauhinia Star in 1999 by the British monarch and the Government of Hong Kong respectively. He chaired an independent inquiry to probe into the opinion poll scandal of the University of Hong Kong in 2000. In 2005, he was one of the presiding judges of the Court of Final Appeal who heard the inheritance dispute between local tycoon Nina Wang and her old-aged father-in-law. In his later years, Power was a judge of the Court of Appeal of Brunei Darussalam and was appointed president in 2007. He died in office in 2009.

Biography

Early years Power was born on 4 December 1929 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, to a locally renowned family of Irish descent. His grandfather, Francis Power (1852–1912), was a member of the Legislative Council of Queensland; his great-uncle, Virgil Power, (1849–1914) was a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland. Power was the middle child among his siblings with an elder brother and younger sister. His parents were John Joseph Power, a doctor in the Australian Army and once the president of the Queensland Turf Club, and Hilda Power.

In his early years, Noel Power was educated at Downlands College, Toowoomba, Queensland. After that he read law and studied literature at the University of Queensland where he was a member of the winning team in the Inter-Varsity Debating Competition. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and LL.B degrees from the university.

Judicial career Shortly after graduation, Power was called to the bars of the High Court of Australia and Supreme Court of Queensland in 1955, where he began his career as a barrister-at-law. In 1965, he moved to Hong Kong and became a magistrate of the Lands Tribunal. He managed to get promoted as President of the Lands Tribunal in 1976. In this capacity, he had compiled the Lands Tribunal Law Reports for three consecutive years, before getting promoted again as a puisne judge of the Supreme Court in 1979. In the 76-page report later published by the inquiry, all three members concurred in concluding that the Senior Special Assistant to the Chief Executive, Andrew Lo Cheung-on, did attempt to influence the Public Opinion Programme. The report finally resulted in the resignations of the then Vice-Chancellor, Prof Cheng Yiu-chung, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wong Siu-lun, of the university.

Later years Since 1980, Power had already served as visiting judge to Brunei Darussalam on several occasions. After retiring from the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong in 1999, he was appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal of Brunei Darussalam in 2003, and became President of the Court of Appeal of Brunei Darussalam in 2007.

Power resided in Australia in his final years but kept travelling frequently to hear cases in Brunei. Despite declining health, he managed to work through the legal year of 2009 in Brunei.

Death

On 19 November 2009, he suddenly suffered a heart attack and was sent to the Jerudong Park Medical Centre in Brunei. He died on the same day in the medical centre, while he was still in office, aged 79.

The death of Justice Power was grieved by the Law Society of Brunei Darussalam and Chief Justice of Hong Kong, Andrew Li. In his statement, Chief Justice Li particularly praised him as "one of the most outstanding Judges to have served Hong Kong in recent decades. He was an outstanding lawyer and his judgments have provided authoritative guidance in many areas, particularly in the criminal field." A memorial service was held by the Law Society of Brunei on 21 November. Lady Power and key people from the judiciary of Brunei were present.

Family Power was married to Irma Maroya, a Croatian, in Australia on 27 March 1965.

Honours Knight Bachelor (1999) Gold Bauhinia Star (1999)