How to become a Judge
Official title: Judges
Also called: Chief justice, Judge, Magistrate
Judges preside over civil and criminal proceedings in courts of law.
Main tasks
- Presiding over trials and hearings
- Interpreting and enforcing rules of procedure and making rulings regarding the admissibility of evidence
- Determining the rights and obligations of the parties involved, and in cases tried by jury
- Instructing the jury on points of law that are applicable to the case
- Weighing and considering evidence in non-jury trials and deciding legal guilt or innocence or degree of liability of the accused or defendant
- Passing sentence on persons convicted in criminal cases, determining damages or other appropriate remedy in civil cases and issuing court orders
- Researching legal issues and writing opinions on the issues
Ways in
- University: Law & Justice degrees, Offered by 8 universities in Hong Kong
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$48,000 a month
- About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Judge?
Ways in include: Law & Justice degrees.
Do you need a degree to become a Judge?
Usually. 85% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Will AI change the work of a Judge?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026