The Judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the judicial branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Under the Basic Law of Hong Kong, it exercises the judicial power of the Region and is independent of the executive and legislative branches of the Government. The courts in Hong Kong hear and adjudicate all prosecutions and civil disputes, including all public and private law matters. It is fundamental to the Hong Kong legal system that members of the judiciary are independent of the executive and legislative branches. The courts of law in Hong Kong comprise the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court (which includes the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance), the District Court, the Magistrates' Courts, and other special courts and tribunals set up by law. The Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal is head of the judiciary and assisted in his administrative duties by the Judiciary Administrator. A bilingual court system in which Chinese, English or both can be used was put in place, in accordance with the requirement of the Basic Law. The Court of Final Appeal It was established on 1 July 1997 upon the commencement of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance to safeguard the rule of law after 30 June 1997. It replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as the highest appellate court of Hong Kong, The Court comprises five judges — the Chief Justice, three permanent judges and one non-permanent judge from Hong Kong or another common law jurisdiction. There is a panel of eight non-permanent Hong Kong judges and nine non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions. The High Court The High Court was established by the High Court Ordinance (Chapter 4, formerly titled the Supreme Court Ordinance), as the "Supreme Court of Hong Kong". It was renamed the "High Court" by Article 81 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong. It consists of the Court of Appeal and Court of First Instance (formally "The High Court of Justice"), both are superior courts of record. The Court of Appeal It hears appeals on civil and criminal matters from the Court of First Instance and the District Court, as well as appeals from the Lands Tribunal. It also makes rulings on questions of law referred to it by the lower courts. There are 10 Justices of Appeal, including the