Assistant Professor
Tel
Fax
Office
(852) 3943 1808
(852) 2994 2505
Room 529
Faculty of Law
5/F, Lee Shau Kee Building
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sha Tin, NT, Hong Kong SAR
Yasser Kureshi’s research lies at the intersection of comparative law, socio-legal studies and political science. His work explores the socio-political foundations of judicial power, the roles courts play in volatile political systems, the political and constitutional dynamics of political transitions, and the formation of legal cultures. Kureshi joins CUHK LAW from the University of Oxford, where he was first a post-doctoral fellow in constitutional theory and law, and then a departmental lecturer in South Asian Studies. His monograph Seeking Supremacy: The Pursuit of Judicial Power in Pakistan won an Honorable Mention for the Distinguished Book Award from the Asian Law and Society Association in 2023, and was based on his dissertation which won the award for the best dissertation in public law from the American Political Science Association in 2019. His work has also been published in the Journal of Comparative Politics, Law and Social Inquiry, Government and Opposition and Democratization, among others.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Monograph
- The Law of Unjust Enrichment in China: Necessary or Not? (Springer International Publishing, 2022) https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-06178-3
Journal Articles
- “Uncovering ‘Trusts’ in China: Law in Books, Law in Action and Law in Perception” (with Xingguang Zou) (2026) European Business Organization Law Review (forthcoming)
- “Legal Harmonisation in the Greater Bay Area: A Case Study of Macau Trust Law” (2025) Asia Pacific Law Review
- “AI Governance in China: A Tale of Three Digital Empires” (with Charles Chao Wang and others) (2025) 48 UC Law SF International Law Review (pp. 153-200)
- “Knowing Receipt in Chinese Trust Law” (2025) 18 Journal of Equity (pp. 216-245) (with Jing Hui)
- “Justifying the Law of Unjust Enrichment: A Confucian Perspective” (2025) 34 Washington International Law Journal (pp. 75-106)
- “Registration of Chinese Trusts: Lessons from English Trust Law” (2023) 3 Conveyancer and Property Lawyer (pp. 267-287) (with Jing Hui)
- “The Transplantation of Quistclose Trusts in China — Legal Difficulties and Normative Uncertainty” (2021) Journal of Equity (pp.153-180) (with Jing Hui)
- “Prosecutor v Ratko Mladic — Challenges to Judicial Impartiality” (2020) 6 European Human Rights Law Review (pp.655-663) (with Henry Z.Y. You)
- “The History of a Mystery: The Evolution of the Law of Unjust Enrichment in Germany, England and China” (2020) 3 (2) International Comparative, Policy & Ethics Law Review (pp.337-381) (with Lutz-Christian Wolff and Steven Gallagher)
- “Looking Back and Thinking Forward: The Current Round of Civil Law Codification in China” (2019) 52 (3) The International Lawyer (pp.439-467)
- “The Introduction of the New Negative List: A Remarkable but Limited Development of Foreign Investment Regulations in China” (2019) 1 Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation (pp.27-31) (with Henry Z.Y. You)
- “China’s International Commercial Court under the Belt and Road Initiative” (2018) 11 International Company and Commercial Law Review (pp.664-670)
- “China’s New Charity Law: A New Era of Charitable Trusts” (2018) 8 Trusts & Trustees (pp.768-777)
Book Chapters
- “The Historical Developments of the Law of Unjust Enrichment in China” in Sagi Peari and Warren Swain (eds), Rethinking Unjust Enrichment: History, Sociology, Doctrine & Theory (Oxford University Press, 2023) (pp. 29-54)
- “Mandate Contracts” in Bu Yuanshi (ed), Chinese Civil Code – The Specific Parts (C.H. Beck Verlag, 2023) (pp. 171-186)
- “Exceptions to Pacta Sunt Servanda in the Chinese Civil Code” in Normann Witzleb (ed), Pacta sunt servanda in Changing Times: East Asian Perspectives (Routledge, 2023) (pp. 20-37)
- “Artworks and Charitable Trusts in China” in Marta Cenini (ed), Trust, Artistic Estates and Collections (Wolters Kluwer, 2019) (pp. 101-122)
Case Comment
- “Change of Position as Defence to Unjust Enrichment Claims: Stories from Hong Kong” (with Henry Z.Y. You) (2023) 52 (2-3) Common Law World Review (pp. 53-60)
EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
- PhD, CUHK LAW
- LLM, CUHK LAW
- LLB, China University of Political Science and Law
- Qualified lawyer in PRC
SELECTED AWARDS AND HONOURS
- Excellent Lawyer Award, King & Wood Mallesons (2022)
- Young Scholars Thesis Award, CUHK (2019)
- Postgraduate Research Output Award, CUHK (2018-2019)
- Global Scholarship Programme for Research Excellence, CUHK (2018-2019)
- HKSAR Scholarship Fund Reaching-Out Award, Hong Kong Government (2017)
- HKSAR Scholarship Fund Talent Award, Hong Kong Government (2017)
- Champion, International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition, Chinese Version (2016)
- LLM Scholarship for Academic Excellence, CUHK (2015)
- Dean’s List Award, Faculty of Law, CUHK (2015)
- Scholarship for Academic Excellence, CUPL (2010, 2011 & 2012)