E-NEWSLETTER
August 2022
CUHK LAW Professors won 8 RGC General Research Fund 2022-23 grants
CUHK LAW is proud to announce the great success of the following professors in winning eight competitive grants under the General Research Fund (GRF) 2022-23 of the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong SAR. These GRF projects receive a total funding of over HK$5.6 million.
- Professor Anatole BOUTE: “Phasing Out Coal Along the Belt and Road: Traditional Regulation and Market-based Approaches”
- Professor Kevin CHENG: “Sentencing Consistency and Sentencing Factors: A Comparison between Hong Kong and England and Wales”
- Professor Gregory GORDON: “Post-Conviction Justice in International Criminal Law: Lessons from Hong Kong and Other Mature Domestic Legal Systems”
- Professor Stuart HARGREAVES and Professor Normann WITZLEB (Co-Investigator): “The Use of Non-Criminal Laws to Combat Hurtful Digital Communications in Hong Kong”
- Professor Bryan MERCURIO: “Engaging with China to Reform the World Trading System”
- Professor Noam NOKED: “New Ways to Compete: How Hong Kong Can Adapt to the New International Tax Order”
- Professor Christopher ROBERTS: “Empire, Internationalism and Global Labor Governance in the Inter-War Period”
- Professor Chao XI: “Corporate Charters in China”
Learn more about the awarded projects here.
CUHK LAW is pleased to announce the launch of the Centre for Legal Innovation and Digital Society 法律創新與數碼社會研究中心 (CLINDS). Led by Professor Jyh-An LEE who serves as the Executive Director, the Centre facilitates and encourages cutting-edge and innovative research in law and technology.
CLINDS was previously known as the Centre for Financial Regulation and Economic Development (CFRED) founded by Professor David Donald in 2010 to support and facilitate research in all areas of law affecting commerce and business. In 2017, CFRED changed the direction of its activities towards research projects related to law and technology. In 2022, CFRED was re-organised and re-named as CLINDS to better reflect the Centre’s new focus thus mirroring CUHK LAW’s strength in law and technology.
Learn more about CLINDS and its activities here.
Under the Senior Research Fellow Scheme (SRFS), the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong SAR has awarded to Professor Bryan MERCURIO a fellowship carrying the amount of HK$7,798,380 for a five-year interdisciplinary project entitled “Access to Vaccines in a Post-COVID-19 World: Sustainable Legal and Policy Options”. During the term of the fellowship, Professor Mercurio will carry the title “RGC Senior Research Fellow”.
In addition, under the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (HSSPFS), the RGC has awarded to Professor Robin Hui HUANG a fellowship carrying the amount of HK$336,900 for his project entitled “Cross-border Listings and Regulatory Responses: Chinese Experiences and International Implications”.
The CUHK LAW Team won the 13th International Air Law Moot Court Competition!
In addition to the championship, the team was also chosen to be the best Respondent team based on the quality of the written memorial and the pleading performance.
The CUHK LAW Team members consisted of JD students Tsz Wa CHU and Sze Yeung LAW, and LLM student Chi Chung Simon WONG. The Team was coached by Professor Jae Woon LEE and assisted by PCLL student Evelyn Shun Wai CHAN.
Read more here.
CUHK LAW JD student Vivian KONG won an individual gold medal and a team silver medal at the Asian Fencing Championships 2022.
The Asian Championships 2022 were held from 10-15 June in Seoul, South Korea. Vivian won women’s epee on 10 June, thus repeating her win in the tournament of 2018. She also led the Hong Kong women’s epee team to win the silver medal on 13 June.
The Obligations Lab Asia of CUHK LAW’s Centre for Comparative and Transnational Law (CCTL) hosted the online conference “Torts Law Reform in Asia and Beyond” on 13 May 2022 with over 200 participants from around the world.
The conference brought together more than 20 speakers from Hong Kong, mainland China, other parts of Asia, Europe, and Australia to discuss emerging issues of civil liability across a wide range of social contexts and jurisdictions. The presentations during a number of plenary and parallel sessions focused on developments in professional negligence, strict liability torts, tort law and AI, and the protection of personality rights.
Prof. the Hon. Mr. Justice Kemal Bokhary GBM delivered a keynote speech at the conference that addressed the inherent tension in the law’s need for continuity and updating.
Watch the conference presentation videos and read more here.
The fourth biennial “Directions in Legal Education” conference was conducted online by CUHK LAW from 10-11 June 2022 with more than 350 participants.
The conference featured more than 40 presentations by speakers from around the globe, including Australia, mainland China, Denmark, Ethiopia, Hong Kong SAR, India, Macau SAR, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Speakers discussed law teaching in the digital and post-epidemic era, the implications of technological transformation in the legal profession, the combination of traditional teaching and online teaching, innovative legal curriculum design, changing trends in legal education, how to empower law teaching with state-of-the-art technology, and how to help legal students prepare for their future careers.
Read more here.
The CUHK LAW Greater China Legal History Seminar Series aims to serve as a forum to discuss the historical development of a great variety of legal issues of interest in the Greater China region. Following the success of the seminars held in the past seven years, CUHK LAW proudly announces that the 8th Year seminar series will begin in September 2022. Topics to be explored include:
- “The Legal Protection of Built Heritage in Hong Kong” (Register Now!)
- “Stirling Fessenden: The American Boss of Shanghai 1925 to 1939”
- “Civil Disputes in the Han Dynasty”
- “A History of Capital Punishment in China”
- “Grounded at Kai-Tak: Chinese Aircraft Impounded in Hong Kong 1949-1925”
- “Treaty for a Lost City – The Historical Background and Legal Implications of the Joint Declaration”
Click here for further details and watch video recaps of previous seminar series here.
The CUHK LAW Greater Bay Area (GBA) Forum Seminar Series offers a platform for the exchange of ideas, views and visions amongst academics and members of the legal professions in relation to legal aspects of the GBA. The seminar series features the following topics during the second half of 2022:
- “Regulatory Pathways for Renewable Energy Integration in the GBA” (Register Now!)
- “The Legal Implications of AI in the Context of Copyright and Transaction Automation in the GBA”
- “Cross-border Enforcement of Securities Laws in the GBA”
- “Tax Law in the GBA”
Learn more about the seminar series here.
Professor Agnes CHONG joined CUHK LAW as an Assistant Professor. Professor Chong’s research interests are water law, environmental law, international law and human rights. She was previously an Assistant Professor at HKU Business School where she taught Company Law. Professor Chong has a PhD in International Law and an LLM in Human Rights Law, both from HKU, an MSc in Development Studies from LSE and a BA from Leeds University. She is admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong. Her previous professional experience includes working in the leading law firms Freshfields, O’Melveny and Cleary Gottlieb in Hong Kong, and with the UN and International Finance Corporation in Thailand and China.
Mr. Jonathan GLUSMAN joined as a Professional Consultant. Mr. Glusman has lived and worked in Hong Kong for over 20 years. He got his JD at Washington University in St. Louis in 2004, after which he practised for six years in a Chicago arbitration and disputes practice. He was admitted as a Hong Kong solicitor in 2011, and worked in-house advising on insurance transactions, claims, and general business matters. Starting from 2013, Mr. Glusman taught part-time for the Law Society’s Hong Kong Academy of Law, facilitating risk management training for lawyers on topics including data privacy and the use of technology, conflicts, privilege and AML.
Mr. Michael SCHREIBER joined as a Professional Consultant. Mr. Schreiber is a former New York City Appellate Administrative Law Judge. Prior to his ALJ position, Mr. Schreiber practised defense litigation and immigration law in the United States, as well as international corporate law in Taiwan. He continues to work on an advisory pro bono basis with the CBST Ark Immigration Clinic in New York. Mr. Schreiber graduated from Binghamton University in New York with a degree in Political Science. He received his Juris Doctorate from the George Washington School of Law in Washington D.C. and is admitted to practise in New York State.
- Treaty for a Lost City: The Sino-British Joint Declaration (Cambridge University Press, 2022) by Professor Chin Leng LIM.
- “The End of the War or the Commencement of Battle? Cryptocurrency Regulation in China” in Banking & Finance Law Review by Professor Chao XI.
- ‘“Moral” Determinations in WTO Law: Lessons from the Seals Dispute’ in Journal of International Economic Law (Oxford University Press) by CUHK LAW Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Ben CZAPNIK.
- “The Global Red Scare and the Anti-Worker Repressive Model, 1913-1927” in Cardozo International and Comparative Law Review by Professor Christopher ROBERTS.
- “The Ping-Pong Olympics of Antisuit Injunction in FRAND Litigation” in Michigan Technology Law Review by Professors Dicky TSANG and Jyh-An LEE.
- “Environmental Policy and Compensation in China: An Empirical Analysis of Article Eight of the Chinese Administrative License Law” in Journal of Environmental Law (Oxford University Press) by Professor James ZENG.
- Regulating Cross-Border Data Flows: Issues, Challenges and Impact (Anthem Press, 2022) co-authored by Professor Bryan MERCURIO.
- Hong Kong Basic Law Handbook, 3rd Edition (Sweet & Maxwell, 2022) by Professors Michael RAMSDEN and Stuart HARGREAVES.
- “Freedom of Assembly” in Christina Binder, Manfred Nowak, Jane A. Hofbauer & Philipp Janig (eds), Elgar Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022) co-authored by Professor Christopher ROBERTS.
- “Freedom of Association” in Christina Binder, Manfred Nowak, Jane A. Hofbauer & Philipp Janig (eds), Elgar Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022) co-authored by Professor Christopher ROBERTS.
- “International Response to the U.S. Tax Haven” in Yale Journal of International Law co-authored by Professor Noam NOKED.
- “The Incursion of Antitrust into China’s Platform Economy” in Antitrust Bulletin by Professor Sandra MARCO COLINO.
- “The Legality of a Trips Waiver for Covid-19 Vaccines under International Investment Law” in International & Comparative Law Quarterly co-authored by Professor Bryan MERCURIO.
- “Communities of Inquiry Pedagogy in Undergraduate Courses” in The Law Teacher by Professor Michael LOWER.
- “The Expansion and Internationalization of Mandatory Disclosure Rules” in Columbia Journal of Tax Law co-authored by Professor Noam NOKED.
- “Artificial Intelligence and Sensitive Inferences: New Challenges for Data Protection Laws” in Mark Findlay, Jolyon Ford, Josephine Seah and Dilan Thampapillai (eds), Regulatory Insights on Artificial Intelligence (Edward Elgar, 2022) co-authored by Professor Normann WITZLEB.
- “State-Backed Shareholder Activism” in Revue internationale des services financiers / International Journal for Financial Services by Professor Chao XI.
- “Reconciling the Rule of Law with Equitable Remedies” in Singapore Academy of Law Journal by CUHK LAW JD graduate Arnaud DYDUCK.
- “Strategic Litigation before the International Court of Justice: Evaluating Impact in the Campaign for Rohingya Rights” in European Journal of International Law (Oxford University Press) by Professor Michael RAMSDEN.
- “Comparative Cybersecurity Law in Socialist Asia” in Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law co-authored by Professor Jyh-An LEE.
- “Climate neutrality in the EU and China: An analysis of the stringency of targets and the adaptiveness of the relevant legal frameworks” in Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law co-authored by Professor Hao ZHANG.
- “The Korea Fair Trade Commission’s Conditional Approval of the Korean Air-Asiana Merger” in European Competition Law Review co-authored by Professor Jae Woon LEE.
- CUHK LAW continued its high standing in the 29th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (Vienna).
- The CUHK LAW Team was named a Dillard Award Winner in the 2022 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.
- Professor Chin Leng LIM was appointed to the list of arbitration chairperson candidates by the European Commission.
- CUHK LAW PhD graduate Dr. Xiaohan GONG received the CUHK Young Scholars Thesis Award 2021 for her doctoral thesis entitled “China’s External Energy Security and Overseas Energy Investments”.
- Professors Benoit MAYER and Michael RAMSDEN received CUHK Research Excellence Awards 2021-22.
Tommy CHEUNG | Hong Kong (JD 2018, PCLL 2019)
Barrister, Jackson Road Chambers
“My article, entitled Secret Trusts and Testamentary Freedom, published in Trusts & Trustees [2019] Vol 25(7), pp 730-736, was quoted extensively with approval in the Malaysian Federal Court decision of Chin Jhin Thien & Anor v Chin Huat Yean @ Chin Chun Yean & Anor [2020] 5 AMR 541. In His Lordship’s decision, Mohd Zawawi Salleh FCJ quoted my article’s view with approval that secret trusts are created as inter vivos trusts which equity will enforce because they protect the testamentary freedom of the testators (see paras 89, 94, and 102 of the judgment).”
Helen PANG | Hong Kong (JD 2013, PCLL 2014)
Associate, Baker & McKenzie
“I am happy to share that Jason and I just welcomed the arrival of our double bundles of joy, twin boys, Marcus and Curtis, on 26 June 2022, weighing 5 lbs 11 oz and 6 lbs 6 oz respectively. Mother and babies are settling in home well. We now have 4 boys in the house! Our hearts (and hands) are so full.”
Andrew LAU | Hong Kong (JD 2016, PCLL 2017)
Barrister, Denis Chang’s Chambers
“I am honoured and grateful to have been recently awarded the inaugural Patrick Yu Memorial Scholarship by the Hong Kong Bar Association. The Scholarship, aimed at supporting barristers who have been qualified to practise for 5 years or less, enables me to participate as counsel in criminal trials or appeals for legally aided defendants together with and under the guidance of a more senior counsel.
I have always been interested in criminal law. In my four years of practice, I have represented clients from the magistracies to the Court of Final Appeal. One recent case left a mark on me. There I was representing a client who was not very different from me: he was in his thirties, held a steady job and had a loving family. I could really empathize with him because he had everything to lose. In the days leading up to the week-long trial, and also during the trial, I was not able to sleep very well for fear of having missed an important detail that could have led to an acquittal. I worked around the clock to ensure that my defence was watertight.
It was all worth it when the Court found him not guilty, and when my client told me that he could finally return to his normal life after a year of worrying about the outcome of his case. At that precise moment, I realized that a lawyer’s work has a direct and far-reaching impact on individuals’ lives. We are not just dealing with inanimate cases, but fellow human beings who might be deprived of their liberty and face shattered lives if convicted.
I hope to keep doing the same in the future, especially for legally aided defendants. I am sure this Scholarship will make my goal easier to attain. The additional skills and knowledge I acquire will prepare me very well for all future challenges as a criminal barrister.”
Martin LI | Hong Kong (LLB 2014, PCLL 2015)
Barrister, Central Chambers;
Lecturer, University of Law, Hong Kong
Martin Li, an LLB and PCLL alumnus who is now a barrister at Central Chambers and lecturer at the University of Law, Hong Kong, was recently awarded the inaugural Patrick Yu Memorial Scholarship. The award enables him to participate as counsel in select criminal trials or appeals for legally aided defendants. Here Martin (third from right) is pictured with fellow CUHK LAW graduates Stephanie Siu, Julia Au, and Florence Yan.
Ebele Angela ONYEABO | Hong Kong (PhD 2021)
Associate Director, Climate and Sustainability, KPMG China
“After completing my PhD at CUHK LAW in November 2021, I started the next chapter of my journey in energy transition as an Associate Director, Climate and Sustainability, at KPMG China based in Hong Kong.
When I decided that my legal career should span multiple continents (Africa, Europe and Asia) and combine legal practice with corporate experience and academia, Hong Kong became a suitable choice. For my PhD thesis on petroleum governance and energy transition policy, the energy law department at CUHK LAW was the obvious choice.
The doctoral process was not easy but at CUHK LAW, I was surrounded by people who provided academic support and, just as important, others who ensured my physical, mental and social wellbeing was catered for. I owe immense gratitude to my dear friends and supervisors Christopher Roberts and Hao Zhang. They constantly made my success a priority. I was also surrounded by the most dedicated administrative support professionals, library support staff and an entire academic staff that was always willing to lend a hand.
For me, being part of this alumni means committing to staying involved with CUHK LAW and the broader CUHK community. As climate change continues to remain an existential crisis, the energy law program at CUHK is more important now than ever. I hope to continue to collaborate with this program as we prepare young minds to join the fight against climate change through transitioning energy systems, law and policy.”
Revan H.F. NG, FSA | Hong Kong (PCLL 2012)
Judicial Associate (General), Judiciary
Editor’s note: Delightfully and rather unusually, we have in this edition of our e-Newsletter an extract of a novel by an alumnus!
“Friday the thirteenth, Friend F came to enjoy some hand-crafted whiskey. “Looking nice without the suit and tie!” I said as he arrived in a pair of worn-out sneakers. “Yeah, I can WFH in a new company now,” he said as I poured a glass for him. “That’s your dream! Where?” I asked. F took over the bottle and meekly said, “A crypto company.” He gulped down my longan-cinnamon whiskey like it was pure oolong.
“At least you get to run now; look at those sneakers,” I remarked. “Yup, and I have turned a tiny profit earning cryptos from running,” F smirked. “You mean the sneakers that are kind of banned now?” I asked. F didn’t reply as he went through another bottle, which ingredient shall forever be a mystery.
“But, man, 2022 is finally good now and I haven’t lost anything until I sell,” F suddenly reverted to his usual cheerful self and reached for the final bottle, marked “Diabolical”. Knowing better than to ruin the moment, I kept quiet. As F put down the empty bottle fuming in spice, I knew he had definitely lost something: his palate.”
Lawrence PANG | Hong Kong (LLB 2013)
Barrister, Liberty Chambers
“It is my pleasure and great honour to be awarded the inaugural Patrick Yu Memorial Scholarship, along with two other CUHK LAW alumni. Since my days studying for the LLB at CUHK, I was already interested in criminal law and criminal procedure. That is why I decided to apply for the Scholarship, which was set up in 2019 to allow junior barristers to assist in legally-aided criminal cases under the supervision of a more senior barrister. The late Mr. Patrick Yu was one of the most respected advocates of his time and, indeed, of all time. He was also well known for supporting junior members of the Bar. In my view, the Scholarship truly reflects Mr. Yu’s spirit. I look forward to all the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
Share with us any updates (e.g. life stories, good news, career achievements) by email to law.alumni@cuhk.edu.hk.
On 28 June 2022, Mr. Henry YU, Mr. Gilbert NG and Mr. Wallace CHAN from L & Y Law Office in association with Henry Yu & Associates gave CUHK LAW alumni a seminar on crypto regulations and developments. Among the trio, Mr. Ng and Mr. Chan are two of our own graduates. The seminar outlined global and Hong Kong crypto regulatory landscapes and discussed updates on virtual assets by various regulatory bodies.
Since its establishment in 2004, CUHK LAW has greatly benefitted from the help of friends and supporters. Granted in many different forms such help has allowed us to pursue research and teaching excellence.
We are most grateful for your continued support. Unless otherwise specified, all donations received will be used for the general development of CUHK LAW based on priorities and needs at different points of time.
Join Us - We are CUHK LAW!
The CUHK LAW e-Newsletter features important Faculty news and events. Colleagues, students, and friends are welcome to share it with anyone who might be interested. Enquiries, suggestions, or comments are welcome and can be sent to law@cuhk.edu.hk.
Copyright © 2022 Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
If you would like to unsubscribe from our mailing list, please click here.