CCTL Obligations Lab Asia Conference – ‘Torts Law Reform in Asia and Beyond’ (Online)

The CCTL Obligations Lab Asia hosted the online conference “Torts Law Reform in Asia and Beyond” on 13 May 2022.

The conference brought together more than 20 speakers from the Hong Kong, mainland China, other parts of Asia, Europe, and Australia to discuss the emerging issues of civil liability laws across a wide range of social contexts and jurisdictions. Regarding the rationale for the conference, its convenor, Prof. Normann Witzleb, explained:

The world is going through a period of rapid change and serious upheaval. The law of torts (or civil wrongs) provides mechanisms to maintain social standards and redress wrongdoing. While torts law must go with the times to maintain its vitality and relevance, adaptation is notoriously difficult and sometimes lagging behind social, economic or cultural developments.

In his opening remarks the Dean of CUHK LAW, Prof. Lutz-Christian Wolff, emphasised the importance of keeping tort laws rules up-to-date in periods of technological and social change, and reflected on the challenges for courts and legislatures to institute reforms.

An early highlight of the conference was the keynote address of Prof. the Hon. Justice Kemal Bokhary GBM, Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal and Honorary Professor of CUHK LAW. The speech addressed the inherent tension in the law’s need for continuity and updating, which provided the framing for the discussions of the day.

The expert speakers then presented their current research in a number of plenary and parallel sessions. The sessions focused on developments in professional negligence, strict liability torts, tort law and AI, the protection of personality rights, as well as other emerging issues for Asian torts laws.

Over 200 participants from all over the world attended the event. The recorded presentations delivered at the conference will be available on the website of the Centre for Comparative and Transnational Law. Selected papers from the conference will in due course be published in a special issue of the Tort Law Review.

Click here to watch the presentation videos.