Biography
The Honourable Mr Justice Kevin Zervos
Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court of Hong Kong
Mr Justice Zervos obtained Bachelor degree in Science (Psychology) and Law from Monash University, Australia, in 1975 and 1977, respectively. He further obtained a Master of Laws (Human Rights) degree from the University of Hong Kong in 2009. In 2022, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, Monash University.
Justice Zervos was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, in 1978. He was registered as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of Australia in 1983, and was admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia, in 1991. He was called to the Bar in Hong Kong in 2001 and appointed as Senior Counsel in 2003.
Justice Zervos commenced practice as a solicitor, working in the fields of commercial law and environmental and planning law. In 1984, he joined the office of the Special Prosecutor, responsible for the investigation and prosecution of revenue frauds. He then joined the newly established office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, where he specialised in white-collar crime. In 1986, he was appointed Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions at the Melbourne and Sydney office respectively, and was in charge of the Major Fraud Section.
In 1989, Justice Zervos was appointed General Counsel to the newly created New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption. He was responsible for providing legal and strategic advice and was involved in numerous inquiries as Counsel Assisting in addressing police corruption, political donations, and corruption within government departments and local governments.
In 1992, he was appointed counsel in the Attorney General’s Chambers in Hong Kong, which later became the Department of Justice. He was initially attached to the Commercial Crime Unit, prosecuting organised crime, fraud and corruption cases. He was instrumental in resurrecting the common law offence of misconduct in public office, which he successfully used to prosecute public officials, including senior members of government. In 2003, he was appointed Senior Counsel and later became Head of the Appeals Unit, where he frequently argued cases concerned with human rights and constitutional issues.
In 2011, he was appointed the Director of Public Prosecutions in Hong Kong. He introduced a range of initiatives to improve transparency and accountability in the criminal justice system.
In September 2013, he was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong and in July 2018, a Judge of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong. He has handed down a vast array of significant decisions, in public law, including a notable judgment on human trafficking and modern-day slavery, and criminal law and evidence.