Robert S.K. Lee S.C.

Senior Counsel

Profile

Robert S.K. Lee S.C. began his legal career in the mid-80’s at the then Hong Kong Attorney General’s Chambers. He prosecuted all types of criminal offences at all level of courts, including, before 1997, appearances in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.  He was once seconded to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to advise on monetary and banking laws, and published a loose-leaf Monetary and Banking Laws of Hong Kong in 1997.  

He took silk in 2008. He was deputy Director of Public Prosecutions before retiring from the Department of Justice in 2011. Having entered private practice in 2012, he has also acted as sometime deputy High Court judge in the Hong Kong Judiciary. 

His decades of legal practice cover general crimes including murder, manslaughter, rape, and robbery. He also focuses on commercial crimes (conspiracy to defraud, deceptions, thefts etc.), corruption offences, money laundering, asset recovery, Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) related cases, and related administrative law. He provides general advice for both lay clients and public authorities; conducts trials, appeals; plea negotiations; and mitigations for sentence; handles confiscation proceedings, and conducts judicial reviews on constitutional matters. 

The path to justice is a winding one. He takes a tough stance, and is used to dealing with tough cases, whether high- profile, complex, or apparently straight forward. Fair case results demand strong professionalism in defence and fair-minded prosecution. Given the inherent fallibility of human beings and of legal institutions, the common law has rightly premised criminal justice on an asymmetry between the prosecution and the defence: that the prosecution must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, with the bench enforcing strict criminal standards to procedural and evidential matters, in the true common law spirit.

Appointments and Public Office
  • Judicial Studies Board – representative for the Department of Justice, 2004-2007
  • Sometime Deputy High Court judge since 2013
  • Barristers Disciplinary Tribunal since 2016
Education

LLB (London U), LLM (London U), PCLL (HKU)

Languages

English, Cantonese, Mandarin

Publications, Lectures and Talks
  • Monetary and Banking Laws of HK (Sweet and Maxwell, 1997)
  • Guest lectures at University of Hong Kong,  City University,  and other educational institutions
  • IAP conference at Cape Town, other law conferences/ guest lectures at Sheffield University, Cambridge University, Peking University,  Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, and others.