Dr. the Hon. Sir T L Yang was Chief Justice of Hong Kong from 1988 to 1996. He is undoubtedly one of the most respected lawyers in Hong Kong . As Chief Justice he played a pivotal role in the creation of Hong Kong’s post-1997 legal landscape and the relationship between the Basic Law and the PRC Constitution. As early as 1985 he initiated important academic and judicial links between the legal systems of Hong Kong and China , with a particular focus on the importance of separation of powers and judicial independence as the foundation for the rule of law after the handover. Sir T L Yang also changed the course of 152 years of legal tradition by introducing the use of Chinese language into the courts of Hong Kong in 1995. Another of his achievements was the modernization of the Hong Kong legal system involving the recruitment of judges and the administration of the judicial system.