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PROF. KEVIN CHENG 鄭國賢教授
Associate Professor 副教授

Tel

Fax

Email

Office

(852) 3943 4428

(852) 2994 2505

kevincheng@cuhk.edu.hk

Room 604
Faculty of Law
6/F, Lee Shau Kee Building
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sha Tin, NT, Hong Kong SAR

Kevin Cheng is an Associate Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Faculty of Law. Currently, he serves as the Executive Director of the Centre for Comparative and Transnational Law (CCTL). He previously held the role of Assistant Dean (Research).

Prof. Cheng’s research primarily focuses on criminology, criminal justice, and socio-legal studies, with a strong emphasis on empirical work within the Hong Kong context. His published work explores topics such as guilty pleas, sentencing, procedural justice, and public attitudes towards the criminal justice system. He is the author of the book Timing of Guilty Pleas: Lessons from Common Law Jurisdictions (Cambridge University Press), and his articles have appeared in top-tier journals, including the British Journal of Criminology, Journal of Criminal Justice, Law & Social Inquiry, and the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. His research has been supported by competitive grants from Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council and has been recognized with the university’s Research Excellence Award and Young Researcher Award.

He received his PhD in Criminology from the University of Hong Kong, his JD and PCLL from CUHK, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from the University of Toronto.

EDUCATION

  • PhD (The University of Hong Kong)
  • PCLL (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
  • JD (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
  • BA (Hons.) (Distinction) (University of Toronto)

RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Criminology
  • Criminal justice
  • Socio-legal studies
  • Empirical legal research

AWARDS

  • Young Researcher Award 2024-25
  • CUHK Research Excellence Award 2015-16

RESEARCH GRANTS

As Principal Investigator

  • General Research Fund (GRF) Project No. 14607322, Sentencing Consistency and Sentencing Factors: A Comparison between Hong Kong and England and Wales, Amount: HK$634,857, 2023 – 2025.
  • Direct Grant for Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Testing the Drug Tariffs: A Closer Inspection of Sentencing Guidelines for Trafficking in Dangerous Drugs in Hong Kong and England, Amount: HK$60,000, 2020-2021.
  • Impact Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Amount: HK$1,000,000, 2019-2021.
  • General Research Fund (GRF) Project No. 14609918, An Empirical Investigation of the Sliding Scale of Sentence Discounts for Guilty Pleas in Hong Kong, Amount: HK$421,000, 2019 – 2021.
  • General Research Fund (GRF) Project No. 14401214, The Causes and Effects of ‘Cracked Trials’: An Empirical Study in the Hong Kong Magistrates’ Courts, Amount: HK$512,000, 2015 – 2017.
  • Direct Grant for Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Public’s Attitudes toward Plea Bargaining: Does Offender Characteristics and Type of Plea Bargaining Matter?, Amount: HK$39,600, 2014-2015.

PUBLICATIONS

Books

  • Cheng, K. K. (2023). The Timing of Guilty Pleas: Lessons from Common Law Jurisdictions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Link]
  • Lo, S H C, Cheng, K. K., & Chui, W. H. (2020). The Hong Kong Legal System, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Link]

Journal Articles

  • Cheng, K. K., Ri, S., & Chengchen, H. (2025). Judges’ characteristics and sentencing in Hong Kong. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 25(4), 1244–1261. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., & Chan, Z. B. (2025). in-group favoritism in sentencing among the courtroom workgroup? Evidence from Hong Kong. Journal of Law & Empirical Analysis. Advanced online publication. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., & Chan, Z. B. H. (2025). Leniency for otherwise law-abiding citizens? Testing the lapse theory and sentencing in England and Wales. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 80, 100715. [Link]
  • Ri, S., & Cheng, K. K. (2024). Criminal record and sentencing: A comparative perspective between England and Wales and Hong Kong. Journal of Criminal Justice, 92, 102-193. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., Ri, S., & Pushkarna, N. (2022). Testing the drugs’ sentencing guidelines: A comparison between England and Wales and Hong Kong. Asian Journal of Comparative Law, 17(1), 167-190. [Link]
  • Ri, S., & Cheng, K. K. (2022). Plea discount deviations: A mechanism for gender disparities in Hong Kong. Asian Journal of Criminology, 17, 237-261. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., Ri, S., & Pushkarna, N. (2020). Judicial disparity, deviation, and departures from sentencing guidelines: The case of Hong Kong. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 17(3), 580-614. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., Pushkarna, N., & Ri, S. (2020). Enhancing the legitimacy of sentences in the minds of the public: Evidence from a public opinion survey in Hong Kong. Punishment & Society, 22(5), 617-636. [Link]
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K. (2019). Validation of a Chinese version of the attitudes toward prisoners scale. The Prison Journal, 99(5), 614-635. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., & Leung, B. P. (2019). The punitive nature of pre-trial detention: Perspectives of detainees in Hong Kong. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 58(2), 143-160. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., Chui, W. H., Young, S., & Ong, R. (2018). Why do the criminal trials ‘crack’? An empirical investigation of late guilty pleas in Hong Kong. Asian Journal of Comparative Law, 13(1), 1-25. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., & Leung, B. P. (2018). Passing the Threshold of One Justice System to the Next: Challenges of Emerging Young Adults in Hong Kong’s Adult Criminal Justice Process. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(9), 2650-2668. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K. (2018). Navigating through the effects of ‘cracked trials’: How Hong Kong legal practitioners deal with late guilty pleas. Common Law World Review, 47(2), 136-149. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K. (2018). Legitimacy in a post-colonial legal system: Public perception of procedural justice and moral alignment toward the courts in Hong Kong. Law & Social Inquiry, 43(1), 212-228. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K. (2017). Aggravating and mitigating factors in context: Culture, sentencing and plea mitigation in Hong Kong. New Criminal Law Review, 20(3), 506-533. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K. (2017). Guilty pleas and plea bargaining. In W. H. Chui & T. W. Lo (Eds.), Understanding criminal justice in Hong Kong, 2nd ed. (pp. 227-242) Abington, Oxon: Routledge.
  • Cheng, K. K. (2017). Expanding the study of procedural justice and legitimacy in Hong Kong: What have been done and future direction. In H. C. Chan & S. M. Y. Ho (Eds.), Psycho-criminological perspective of criminal justice in Asia: Research and practices in Hong Kong, Singapore, and beyond (pp. 274-286). Abington, Oxon: Routledge.
  • Cheng, K. K. (2017). Prosecutorial procedural justice and public legitimacy in Hong Kong. British Journal of Criminology, 57(1), 94-111. [Link]
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K. (2017). Perceptions of fairness and satisfaction in lawyer-client interactions among young offenders in Hong Kong. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 11(2), 266-285. [Link]
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K. (2017). Criminal sentiments and behaviours among young people in Hong Kong. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 22(1), 57-67.
  • Cheng, K. K. (2016). Public approval of plea bargaining in Hong Kong: The effects of offender characteristics. International Criminal Justice Review, 26(1), 31-48. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K. (2015). Moral discourse in Hong Kong’s Chinese criminal proceedings. The Chinese Journal of Comparative Law, 3(2), 375-389 [Link]
  • Chui, W. H., Cheng, K. K. & Ong, R. (2015). Attitudes of the Hong Kong Chinese public toward sex offending policies: The role of stereotypical views of sex offenders. Punishment & Society, 17(1), 94-113. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., Chui, W. H., & Ong, R. (2015). Providing justice for low-income youths: Publicly funded lawyers and youth clients in Hong Kong. Social & Legal Studies, 24(4), 577-593. [Link]
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K. (2015). Young people’s perception of lawyers in Hong Kong: A comparison between offenders, youth-at-risk and students. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 43(4), 481-495. [Link]
  • Cheng, K. K., & Chui, W. H. (2015). Beyond the shadow-of-trial: Decision-making behind plea bargaining in Hong Kong. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 43(4), 397-411. [Link]
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K. (2014). A comparison of attitudes toward prisoners of religious and non-religious college students in Hong Kong. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 59(10), 1066-1078.
  • Cheng, K. K. (2014). The practice and justifications of plea bargaining by Hong Kong criminal defence lawyers. Asian Journal of Law and Society, 1(2), 395-412. [Link]
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K. (2014). Challenges facing young men returning from incarceration in Hong Kong. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 53(4), 411-427. [Link]
  • Chui, W. H., Cheng K. K., & Ong, R. (2014). Exploration of the Community Attitude toward Sex Offender scale in a Chinese cultural context. Asian Journal of Criminology, 9(1), 37-48.
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng K. K. (2014). Chinese migrants’ perceptions of the Queensland criminal justice system. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 12(1), 25-43.
  • Cheng, K. K. (2013). Pressures to plead guilty: Factors affecting plea decisions in Hong Kong’s magistrates’ courts. British Journal of Criminology, 53(2), 257-275. [Link]
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K. (2013). Effects of volunteering experiences and motivations on attitudes toward prisoners: Evidence from Hong Kong. Asian Journal of Criminology, 8(2), 103-114.
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K. (2013). The mark of an ex-prisoner: Perceived discrimination and self-stigma of young men after prison in Hong Kong. Deviant Behavior, 34(8), 671-684.
  • Chui, W. H., Cheng, K. K., & Wong, L. P. (2013). Spirituality and punitiveness: An exploration of Christian, Buddhist, and non-religious attitudes towards crime. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 41(1), 1-15.
  • Chui, W. H., Cheng, K. K., & Wong, L. P. (2013). Gender, fear of crime, and attitudes toward prisoners among social work majors in a Hong Kong university. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 57(4), 479-494.
  • Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K. (2013). Self-perceived role and function of Christian prison chaplains and Buddhist volunteers in Hong Kong prisons. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 57(2), 154-168.
  • Chui, W. H., Cheng, K. K., & Wong, M. C. (2012). Practical considerations in the implementation of further restorative justice programmes for juvenile offenders in Hong Kong. Journal of Asian Public Policy, 5(3), 311-321.

Book Chapters

  • Cheng, K. K. (2024). The Courts, the Prosecution, and the Defence in Plea-Based Case Dispositions in Hong Kong. In E. Li, X. Yuan, & Y. Zhang (Eds.), Criminal Case Dispositions through Pleas in Greater China: Conception, Operation and Contradiction (pp. 177-199). Springer Nature.
  • Cheng, K. K. (2024). Plea bargaining in Hong Kong: a question of definition. In M. Langer, M. McConville & L. Marsh (Eds.), Research Handbook on Plea Bargaining and Criminal Justice (pp. 76-87). Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Cheng, K. K. (2017). Guilty pleas and plea bargaining. In W. H. Chui & T. W. Lo (Eds.), Understanding Criminal Justice in Hong Kong, 2nd ed. (pp. 245-260). Routledge.