“Can you destroy your Sex Pistols memorabilia, your NFT and your Van Gogh after your death?” by Prof. Steven Gallagher

An incidence of property ownership is the right to destroy property, at least without affecting the rights of others and within any laws affecting this property. For example, in 2013, the owner of the Hong Kong property known as Ho Tung Gardens, had the house demolished in the face of public and government objection. This short discussion will consider the right to destroy property, especially “special” property, such as art, and whether an artist may destroy property to create art. The discussion will then consider the topic of destruction of property from beyond the grave- if you buy two of the world’s most important impressionist paintings, a Van Gogh and a Renoir, can you take them to the grave with you? The discussion will conclude by considering whether the current obsession with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is encouraging the destruction of art, from Basquiat to Banksy.

“Adverse possession cases in 2022” by Prof. Michael Lower

The law of adverse possession gives long-term squatters the ability to defeat the ownership rights of the formal owner of land (with rights recorded in the title deeds and protected in the Land Registry). Adverse possession is, therefore, understandably controversial. The legal framework for establishing a claim / defence under adverse possession is clear and well-understood. There is, nevertheless, a steady stream of litigation. The first weeks of 2022 have already seen the reporting of two Court of Appeal decisions and a third decision in the Court of First Instance. This presentation reviews and comments on the decisions in Lam Sai Wan v Minloy Limited, Wu Yim Chung v Lo Wai Ching and Woo Sai Mui v Lam Island Development Co. Limited.

About the Speaker:

Prof. Steven Gallagher, Professional Consultant, Professor of Practice in Law, CUHK LAW
Prof. Michael Lower, Professional Consultant, Associate Professor of Practice in Law, CUHK LAW