A list of former Crown Prosecutors is as follows: The Director may be appointed from a wide range of candidates, as long as they have been called to the Hong Kong Bar; they can be either in private practice or serving in the government, and may be of any nationality.

[3] The Secretary for Justice, a politically appointed role, is the chief prosecutor and ultimately can direct the Director on criminal prosecution matters.

This has come under fire from a number of legal experts in Hong Kong, including former prosecutor Ian Grenville Cross QC SC, eminent criminal defense lawyer Cheng Huan QC SC, barrister and legal sector legislator Dennis Kwok,[4] as well as the South China Morning Post (in an editorial).

[5] Cross has argued that Hong Kong should follow the United Kingdom, where the Attorney General for England and Wales transferred criminal prosecuting powers to the UK's Director in 2009.

[7] To date, Cross remains the only Director not to become a High Court judge post-retirement, but whether this was due to his own personal choice or the fact that a position was not offered to him is unclear.