Martin Burr Chambers | Barristers London | Direct Access Barristers London | Immigration Barristers London

Practice Areas:

Keith specialises in all areas of criminal law including criminal trial advocacy. He also specialises in family law including all areas relating to divorce and matrimonial finance, trusts and MPS and the law relating to children: custody, access, child maintenance, lawful and unlawful removal (Hague), wardship, injunctions, domestic violence, marital agreements, enforcement and cohabitees.

From 1990-2006 Keith specialised almost exclusively in criminal trial advocacy in London. With both criminal and family law essentially mirroring the laws of England and Wales, Keith was Called to the Bar in Hong Kong in 2000, where he practiced criminal and matrimonial law until 2003, before returning to London.

After three further years in practice in London, Keith returned to Hong Kong to practice full-time in 2006. Since then his work has focused almost exclusively on criminal trial advocacy in the criminal courts and all aspects of family law and matrimonial finance in the family courts in Hong Kong. He was junior counsel in the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal case of LKW v. DD FACV 16/2008; (2010) 13 HKCFAR 537. This landmark CFA judgment is now the leading authority on the division of matrimonial assets in ancillary relief when Hong Kong adopted the position in England and Wales, as set out in White v White [2000] UKHL 54.

Whilst at the Bar Keith also held the post of Principal Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong, where, until 2022, he taught criminal procedure and professional practice and, from 2008, was responsible for the matrimonial practice and procedure elective on the compulsory postgraduate training course for those wishing to join the legal profession in Hong Kong.

Having returned to London in 2025, Keith continues with his practice in criminal law and matrimonial law.

Since 2008 he has also been a Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Accredited Mediator.

Education:

• BA (Hons), MA, PhD, Dip Law
• Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Law - University of Hong Kong

Reported Cases:

• Re F (Contact) [1995] 1 FLR (CA) 510
• Re S (Parental Responsibility) [1995] 2 FLR (CA) 648
• R v Luke Anthony Piggott & Jeffrey Simon Litwin [1999] 2 Cr.App.R. (CA) 320

Publications:

Keith continues to publish widely and remains responsible for several legal publications which are updated regularly:

• Hotten & Ho ‘On Family & Divorce Law in Hong Kong’ Vols. I, II, III, & IV LexisNexis (2025 – updated March & December)
• Hotten & Ho ‘Hong Kong Family Court Practice’ (Single Vol) LexisNexis (2025 - annually)
• Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (2nd Edition) ‘Criminal Law’ Vol. 20 (2025 - annually)
• Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (2nd Edition) ‘Criminal Procedure’ Vol. 21 (2025 - annually)
• Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (2nd Edition) ‘Legal Practitioners’ Vol. 37 LexisNexis (2021)
• Hotten & Ho Family Law Practice & Procedure in Hong Kong (Student Edition) LexisNexis (2024 – updated)
• Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (2nd Edition) ‘Contempt of Court’ Vol. 16 LexisNexis (2019)
• Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (2nd Edition) ‘Family Law’ Vol. 28 LexisNexis (2018)
• 'Family Law Practice & Procedure in Hong Kong’ (2nd Edition) LexisNexis (2015)
• ‘Right to Family’ Chapter 26, The Law of the Hong Kong Constitution Johannes Chan SC (Ed) (2nd Edition), Sweet & Maxwell (2015)
• ‘The Hong Kong Family Court Practice’ (1st Edition) LexisNexis (2010)
• ‘Taking the Law into our Own Hands: Children & Collaborative Practice in Hong Kong’ Hong Kong Lawyer (Feb 2009, p.57)
• ‘The Essential Statutes on Hong Kong Matrimonial Law and Procedure’ LexisNexis (2008)
• Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong ‘Evidence’ (2006) LexisNexis Vol. 12(1)

Professional Memberships:

• The Honourable Society of Middle Temple