Lawmakers on Wednesday approved the appointment of Justice William Young as a non-permanent judge of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal for three years.

Young served as a permanent judge at New Zealand's top court for 12 years before retiring in 2022.

He becomes the 10th non-permanent judge on the SAR's top court, and the sixth from overseas.

Speaking before the approval, Chief Secretary Eric Chan said Young should begin his term this month.

Chan described him as a high-standing, excellent judge with a wide range of practising experience, such as criminal and tax cases.

The minister noted that not only is the SAR the only jurisdiction in the country practising common law, it is also the only jurisdiction worldwide operating in both Chinese and English.

He said having overseas judges sitting on Hong Kong's top court is paramount to the city's global legal status.

"Having these eminent overseas judges with extensive judicial experience constituting part of our Court of Final Appeal is truly rare among common law jurisdictions in the world," Chan told lawmakers at a full council meeting.

He added that the foreign judges' presence fully shows the distinctive advantage of Hong Kong's highly internationalised judicial system.