A profile of the Honourable Mr. Justice Andrew Macrae VP

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Andrew Macrae. The interview covered Andrew’s experiences in Durham, his career in law, and advice for current students.

Experiences in Durham

Andrew started his law degree at Durham in 1975 and was in St John’s College. Law was a natural choice for Andrew as he grew up with a legal family background and was motivated to become a barrister since childhood. Academically, he enjoyed Equity and Contract, and particularly the Equity lectures of Leo Blair, the father of the former Prime Minister. Beyond academics, Andrew

made the most of his time at Durham. He was involved in the Union Society, where he notes that he “learnt his trade” and was President in the Epiphany term of 1977. Andrew had also played county- level tennis in England and was awarded his Palatinate for the sport at Durham (he continues to play competitively on the Senior’s ITF circuit). Andrew views his time at Durham and the University with particular fondness. He notes that its Christian heritage generally, and within St John’s, had an influence on him and his career. He also praises the teaching quality, the collegiate system, and the Northern influence as producing exceptionally well-rounded, friendly, and pragmatic individuals. Moreover, he thoroughly values the friends he made who, he notes, became friends for life; they recently enjoyed a 50-year reunion in London.

Journey into Law and Career

Having completed his LLB at Durham, Andrew was called to the Bar in 1979 and received the Winston Churchill Scholarship. In 1981, he practised briefly in Nottingham and was quickly accepted to join the Attorney General’s Chambers in Hong Kong in October 1982. Then, in 1983, he entered private practice in Hong Kong and took Silk in 1999. He was also called to the Bar of Brunei in 2005 where, as a Silk, he successfully prosecuted Brunei's longest-ever corruption trial, which spanned some four years. Then, in 2010, he was appointed to the High Court of Hong Kong and to the Court of Appeal in 2013, where he became Vice President in 2018 and is now Senior Vice President. As for practising in Hong Kong, Andrew praises Hong Kong as “a jurisdiction where East meets West” in which the common law system “contributes to the centrality, stability and fairness of the rule of law [and] provides an efficient legal system”. He attributes many of the sentencing decisions he has made over his career to the East-West influence.

Advice for students

Andrew provided invaluable advice for students entering the legal profession; this centred on the message to “not be too dogmatic” about the way our careers unfold. His own experiences exemplify this. As mentioned, he enjoyed Equity and Contract at Durham, which interested him in becoming a chancery lawyer doing civil law. However, he came to criminal law by chance and, in his first case, the jury returned guilty verdicts against every defendant but his client; this early success marked a turning point in his career. Ultimately, despite diverting from his original plans, Andrew never looked back after moving to the private Bar and encourages students to stay similarly open-minded.

Acknowledgements

I conclude by thanking Andrew Macrae for taking the time to give an inspiring and insightful interview.