Mr. Benjamin Yu, SBS SC JP, CUHK LAW Visiting Professor (honorary), delivered a seminar titled “Law on Mental Capacity” on 4 October 2021 at the CUHK Graduate Law Centre. To allow more participants to join, the seminar was also conducted online via ZOOM.

With the advance in medical science, the life expectancy of people in Hong Kong has been on the increase. In 1960, life expectancy from birth was 66.96. In 2000, it was 80.88. In 2020, it was 85. Society has also become more affluent. It has been reported that about 1 in 125 persons in HK is worth at least US$5m. This combination of longer life expectancy and greater accumulation of wealth has led to more cases coming to our courts where the court has to grapple with the question whether a person has mental capacity, whether to make a will, or generally. This seminar focused on the principles and practice of the Court when determining such questions.  The seminar was attended by over 100 participants including students, alumni, academics, judges and legal practitioners from Hong Kong.