An Empirical Study of Money Laundering Offending in Hong Kong
Principal Investigator: Simon Young
Project Period: 01/01/2020 – 31/12/2021
Funding Source: RGC General Research Fund
The Language and Ideology of Constitutions: A Computational Linguistics Analysis
Principal Investigator: David Law
Project Period: 01/07/2017 – 30/06/2020
Funding Source: RGC General Research Fund
Courts and Democracies in Asia
Principal Investigator: Po Jen Yap
Project Period: 01/07/2017 – 30/06/2020
Funding Source: RGC General Research Fund
A Comparative Evaluation of Hong Kong’s Legislative Powers to Regulate Trade in Endangered Wild Animals
Principal Investigator: Amanda Whitfort
Project Period: 01/01/2017 – 01/01/2019
Funding Source: RGC General Research Fund
Constitutionalism in Context
Principal Investigator: David Law
Project Period: 15/03/2017 – 31/12/2018
Funding Source: Global Partnership Seed Fund
CCPL Public Opinion Survey 2016: Hong Kong’s Journey Towards Democratisation and 2047
Principal Investigator: Puja Kapai
Project Period: 23/01/2017 -31/10/2017
Funding Source: National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI)
Constitutional Dialogue in Common Law Asia
Principal Investigator: Yap Po Jen
Project Period: 01/07/2014 – 30/06/2017
Funding Source: RGC General Research Fund
The Community of Lawyers: Trust and Collective Identity of Chinese Public Interest Lawyers
Principal Investigator: Fu Hualing
Project Period: 07/2014 – 07/2016
Funding Source: General Research Funds
Constitutional Development in Hong Kong and Rule of Law Education and Rule of Law Education
Principal Investigator: Benny Tai
Project Period: 2013 – 31/10/2016
Funding Source: General Research Fund
Judical Deference in Constitutional Rights in Adjudication: Constructing an Approach for Post-Handover Hong Kong
Principal Investigator: Cora Chan
Project Period: 01/11/2013 – 31/10/2016
Funding Source: Early Career Scheme
The Legal Enforcement of Contracts and Loan Agreements: The Role of Cultural Values in Theories of Consent and Vitiation
Principal Investigator: Puja Kapai
Project Period: 01/01/2012 – 30/06/2015 (extended)
Funding Source: General Research Fund
Empowering Rural Communities: Legal Aid and the Rule of Law in Rural China
Principal Investigator: Fu Hualing
Project Period: March 2007 – September 2010
Funding Source: The University of Washington, Asian Law Centre
This project aims to: promote structural change in the delivery of legal aid services through a ‘grass-roots level’ model for access to justice in China’s rural regions; to build sustainable new networks of local government, universities, lawyers and citizens who have a stake in fostering civil rule of law in rural China; and to deliver the first rigorous, replicable evaluation of the impact of legal aid in rural China. By pursuing these aims it is hoped that democracy, human rights, labour rights and rule of law may develop in the rural regions of China . This project will also try to build the capacity of citizens to make legal demands on their government and a government that is obligated to respond. In addition to publication, outputs of this project will include developing legal aid centres in rural regions, training of county legal aid lawyers, township justice assistants and legal student interns, capacity building in regional law schools in dispute resolution and advocacy training.
The First Decade of Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal
Principal Investigator: Simon NM Young
Co-Investigator: Yash Ghai
Research Assistant: Antonio Da Roza
Project Period: January 2007 – December 2009
Funding Source: Research Grants Council CERG 2006/2007
Before 1 July 1997, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (PC) in England served as Hong Kong’s highest court in all legal disputes. After the resumption of sovereignty by China, Hong Kong established a Court of Final Appeal (CFA) to replace the PC in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution. Since 1997, as provided for in the Basic Law, distinguished judges from England, Australia and New Zealand have routinely joined local judiciary in the CFA’s decision-making processes. The CFA is the most independent final appeal court in China and the only one mandated to maintain and develop the common law. From 1997 to 2005, the CFA delivered close to 300 separate decisions, compared with the 68 decisions handed down by the PC in the eight years prior to the handover. The CFA jurisprudence has been of great social, economic, and political importance to Hong Kong. The proposed research aims to review the first decade of the CFA in a comprehensive and systematic manner. Quantitative data on the operation of the CFA and its decided cases will be collected and compared with similar data in respect of the last decade of appeals to the PC. Comparative analysis will also be done with the Macao Court of Final Appeal since its creation in 1999 and supreme courts from other countries. From the quantitative data, comparative analysis, and a close examination of all the CFA judgments, the goal of the research is to gain original and substantial knowledge of how the CFA has developed the law in Hong Kong since 1997.
Hong Kong Civil Forfeiture Project
Principal Investigator: Simon Young
Project Period: March 2006 – February 2008
Funding Source: Research Grants Council – Public Policy Research Grant
In the spring of 2006, CCPL began research to identify the most effective laws and policies to eliminate and deter profit-making crime by means of interdicting crime-tainted property (i.e. the proceeds and instruments of serious crime). The topic of civil and criminal forfeiture is quite a technical and complex one. To appreciate the subject fully, it requires extensive research and consideration of the experiences from many different countries. And it requires placing those international experiences in the Hong Kong context. The goal of the research project is to produce a final report, making recommendations for policy and legislative reform in Hong Kong. We also intend to produce a volume of scholarly papers contributed by the International Experts to be published with a leading academic publisher. Such a publication will likely be a first as no comparative work of worldwide civil and criminal forfeiture schemes exists. The discussion paper for the project is available here and the press release is available here.
Arrangements for Filling Vacancies in the Legislative Council: September 2011
On 20 September 2011, CCPL submitted a brief to the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau on the arrangements for filling vacancies in the Legislative Council. The submission discusses the inherent weaknesses of the four options suggested by the consultation paper and offers a ‘fifth option’ for reform; a replacement mechanism similar to the British model of filling in casual vacancies in the European Parliament.
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Political Reform Proposal: Breaking the Deadlock: February 2010
On 19 February 2010, CCPL submitted its final proposals for reform of the Election Committee and Legislative Council for 2012 to the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau. These submissions may be downloaded here:
Reform Methods for Selecting the CE in 2012
LegCo Reforms 2012 and 2016 English
LegCo Reforms 2012 and 2016 Chinese
Timeline of the Mass Resignation Plan
Submissions to the Constitutional Reform Task Force: September 2004
Simon N M Young, Associate Professor
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Submissions on the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) (Amendment) Bill 2003 by Simon N.M. Young, Associate Professor: January 2004
First submission [PDF]
Administration’s response to first submission [PDF]
Second submission [PDF]
Submissions by other parties can be found on the LegCo Bills Commitee website.
“Knock knock, Who’s there?” – Warrentless Searches for Article 23 Offences”, Simon N.M. Young, Associate Professor: June 2003 [PDF]
Group Submission to the Legislative Council, the Department of Justice, and the Security Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR on the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill: May 2003 [PDF]
Submission on The Proposals to Implement Article 23 of the Basic Law: December 2002 [PDF]
No 25/14: Vince Wong, May 2014
Land Reform Policy in China: Dealing with Expropriation and the Dual Land Tenure System [PDF]
No 24/13: Bryane Michael, June 2013
How to Implement Public Sector Codes of Conduct: Lessons from OECD Member States [PDF]
No 23/13: Bryane Michael, February 2013
Can the Hong Kong ICAC Help Reduce Corruption on the Mainland? [PDF]
No 21/11: Helen Liu, November 2011
Confiscation in Taiwan: The Laws and Ideas for Reform [PDF]
No 17/08: Seren Tang, March 2008
Status of the Reservation to the Right to Vote in Hong Kong [PDF]
No 15/05: Paul Serfaty, May 2005
Functional Constituencies and Universal Suffrage [PDF]
No 14/05: Simon Young, January 2005
Can Functional Constituencies Co-exist with Universal Suffrage? [PDF]
No 13/04: Christopher Chaney, June 2004
The Hong Kong Executive Authorities’ Monopoly on Legislative Power: Analysis of the Legislatives Council’s Second Term Voting Records [PDF]
No 11/03: Johannes Chan, July 2003
Unauthorized and Damaging Disclosure of Protected Information: A Comment on the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill 2003 [PDF]
No 10/03: Simon N. M. Young, June 2003
“‘Knock knock, Who’s there?’ – Warrentless Searches for Article 23 Offences” [PDF]
No 9/03: Fu Hualing, Kelley Loper, Carole Petersen, and Simon N. M. Young, May 2003
“Group Submission to the Legislative Council, the Department of Justice, and the Security Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR on the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill” [PDF]
No 7/03: Simon N.M. Young, January 2003
“Hong Kong’s Anti-Terrorism Measures Under Fire” [PDF]
No 6/02: Carole Petersen and Kelley Loper, December 2002
“Submission on the Proposals to Implement Article 23 of the Basic Law” [PDF]
No 5/02: Roda Mushkat, July 2002
“‘Fair Trial’ As A Precondition To Rendition: An International Legal Perspective” [PDF]
Seminar: The Development of Classical Administrative Law and Modern Threats to it
Professor Christopher Forsyth
Emeritus Sir David Williams Professor of Public Law, University of Cambridge; Cheng Yu Tung Visiting Professor, The University of Hong Kong
Thursday, 12th April 2018, 17:30 – 18:30
See conference note here.
Conference: Freedom and National Security – Has the Right Balance been Struck?, 14-15 June 2003
Co-sponsored by The Hong Kong Bar Association, the Faculty of Law and the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at The University of Hong Kong, and the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong
This conference considered the recent debate over the implementation of Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law and the proposed National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill introduced to the Hong Kong Legislative Council in February 2003. Speakers include representatives from the government, academia, the legal profession, human rights organisations and journalist associations. The conference presented local and comparative perspectives on national security legislation, addressing topics such as the relationship between national security and administrative law; freedom of information and economic growth; the potential impact of the Bill on press freedoms, self-censorship, and freedom of expression; and the relationship between the Bill and international human rights standards expressed in documents such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Johannesburg Principles on National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information.
Programme
- Speech by Mr. James O’Neil, Deputy Solicitor General (Constitutional) [English] [Chinese]
- Hong Kong Bar Association’s Views on the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill 2003 [PDF]
- The Hong Kong Bar Association’s Comments on the Committee Stage Amendments dated 6th June 2003 to the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill [PDF]
- National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill 2003: Administrative Law Aspects by Dr. Christopher Forsyth [PDF]
- Freedom of Information and the Economic Future of Hong Kong by Dr. Zhiwu Chen [PDF]
- Submission to the Bills Committee, National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York [PDF]
- International Human Rights Law Provisions Applicable to the National Security Bill, Submission by the Joseph R. Crowley Program in International Human Rights at Fordham Law School [PDF]
- Notes for the Bar Council of England & Wales on the Proposals to Implement Article 23 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR by Rabinder Singh QC, 23 December 2002 [PDF]
- Comments by the Bar of England & Wales regarding the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Consultation Document on the Proposals to Implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, 23 December 2002 [PDF]
- Submission on Behalf of the Bar of England & Wales, Amendments to the Hong Kong Crimes Ordinance: Treason, Secession, Subversion and Sedition [PDF]
- Submission on Behalf of the Bar of England & Wales, Official Secrets and the Case of Shayler [PDF] and Appendix: Relevant Provisions of the OSA [PDF]
- Comments on Behalf of the Bar of England and Wales, Proscription [PDF]
- More Repression? Beijing’s Response to the 21st Century? by Professor Perry Link [PDF]
Other Relevant Documents
- National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill [PDF]
- Comments on the Consultation Document on Proposed Legislation Under Article 23 of the Basic Law by the Law Society of Hong Kong, 17 December 2002 [PDF]
- In the Shadow of the Law, A Report by the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group in response to Justice Canada’s 1st annual report on the application of the Anti-Terrorism Act (Bill C-36) [PDF]
- Canadian Bar Association’s Views on Proposed Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Canada) , 20 November 2002 [PDF]
- Canadian Bar Association’s Views on Bill C-32, Criminal Code amendments (setting traps) (Canada), 27 May 2003 [PDF]
- Canadian Bar Association Submission on Lawful Access – Consultation Document, December 2002 [PDF]
- Canadian Bar Association Submission on Bill C-17 Public Safety Act, 2002, January 2003 [PDF]
Seminar: Jutta Limbach, How a Constitution Can Safeguard Democracy: The German Experience, 29 January 2003 [PDF]
Professor Limbach, born in 1934, studied law in Berlin and Freiburg. In 1971 she received a chair of law at the Free University of Berlin and worked there as a professor of civil law, commercial law and legal sociology until 1989. In March 1994 she was elected Justice and Vice-President of the German Constitutional Court and she served as president of the Court from September 1994 until April 2002. In January 2002 she was elected President of the Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes, Germany.
Conference: Preserving Civil Liberties in Hong Kong: The Potential Impact of Proposals to Implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, 23 November 2002
Article 23 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides that Hong Kong shall enact laws to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition or subversion against the Central People’s Government, as well as the theft of state secrets. The Hong Kong government issued a public consultation paper on its proposals to implement Article 23 in September 2002, which generated significant concern in the community. Session One of the Conference consisted of several academic papers on important civil liberties issues. Session Two consisted of a panel discussion, in which panel members commented upon points raised in the academic papers and offered their own analysis of the government’s proposals.
Session 1: Speakers included Assistant Professor Simon Young, Professor Johannes Chan, Associate Professor Fu Hua Ling and Professor Albert Chen.
Session 2: Panelists included Mr. Cliff Buddle, Mr. Law Yuk-kai, The Honourable Margaret Ng, Mr. James O’Neil, and Assistant Professor Doreen Weisenhaus.
State Powers of Investigation and Article 23 by Simon N.M. Young (abstract) [PDF]
Past and Future Offences of Sedition in Hong Kong by Fu Hualing [PDF]
Treason, Secession, Subversion and Proscribed Organizations: Comments on the Consultation Document by Albert H.Y. Chen [PDF]