New book by Eric Ip: Law and Justice in Hong Kong: Principles of the Legal System, Fifth Edition (Sweet & Maxwell)

Law and Justice in Hong Kong: Principles of the Legal System, Fifth Edition
Eric Ip
Sweet & Maxwell
Published in October 2025
507 pp.

Description: Comprehensively revised and updated, the fifth edition of Law and Justice in Hong Kong: Principles of the Legal System provides a comprehensive exploration of the legal framework of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China—the sole common law jurisdiction in East Asia.

Incorporating analyses of recent judicial decisions and pivotal legal developments in the post-pandemic era, alongside the emergence of the ongoing artificial intelligence revolution, this edition enables readers to understand the core principles of law and the administration of justice that have shaped Hong Kong’s remarkable transformation from a modest fishing settlement into a premier global financial hub over nearly two centuries.

An indispensable resource for students and candidates preparing for professional examinations in Legal System, Constitutional Law, and Legal Methods, this book also serves as a valuable reference for legal practitioners, jurists, and general readers, both in Hong Kong and beyond, who are intrigued by the dynamics of an internationalised common law system functioning under the sovereignty of the world’s most influential socialist state.

Michael Ng and Florence Mok on Suspicious minds: Chinese nationalism, state security and education in Cold War Hong Kong, 1949-70s (Cold War History)

"Suspicious minds: Chinese nationalism, state security and education in Cold War Hong Kong, 1949-70s"
Florence Mok, Michael Ng
Cold War History
Published online: October 2025

Abstract: Using archival records and leftist memoirs, this article examines how the Chinese Communist Party expanded its influence through left-wing schools in Hong Kong during the Cold War, and documents how the colonial state contended with this ‘security threat’. The CCP utilised Hong Kong’s capitalist environment to its advantage and expanded its influence in the education sector. To avoid provoking retaliatory actions from China, the colonial authorities employed different strategies to constrain left-wing schools, which however were only outcompeted by free compulsory education in the 1970s. This case study contributes to debates about the particularistic forms of Hong Kong’s Cold War.

New Issue of Hong Kong Law Journal (Vol. 55, Part 2 of 2025)

HONG KONG LAW JOURNAL
Vol. 55, Part 2 of 2025

Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Eric C Ip
Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Trevor Wan

Publisher: Sweet & Maxwell

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Symposium: The Constitution and the Civil Code in Asia

The Constitution and the Civil Code in East Asia: China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan
Alec Stone Sweet...153

The Constitutionalisation of Civil Law in South Korea: Practices of Ordinary Courts
Yoon Jin Shin...163

The Development of the Doctrine of Horizontal Effect of Constitutional Rights in Taiwan
Hsiaowei Kuan...191

China’s Civil Code as a Super-Statute: Ramifications for Constitutional Theory
James C Fisher...211

The Interaction of the Constitution and the Civil Code in Japan
Keigo Komamura...233

China’s Civil Code as a Super-Statute: Ramifications for Constitutional Theory
Chong Bu...253

Constitution Talk in the Chinese Civil Courts: Constructing the Constitution through the Civil Code?
Zhuo Ding...277

Articles

Recognition, Relief and Enforcement of Schemes, Plans and Judgments: Towards a Transnational System of Justice in Cross-Border Insolvency
Geoffrey Ma...299

Justice Reimagined: Innovative Remedies in the Courts
Kemal Bokhary...313

The Interface between Arbitration Clauses and Insolvency Proceedings
Hilary So and Anfield Tam...321

The Legal Fiction of Equal Authenticity: A Study of Judicial Interpretation of Bilingual Legislation in Hong Kong
Michael MK Cheung and Anne SY Cheung...341

Sino-US “Chip War”: Can China’s Semiconductor Fiscal and Tax Policies Effectively Break through Technological Blockade? 
Jingxian Chen and Kexin Zhou...373

Book Reviews

Yanhong Yin, The Idea of a Chinese Arrest Warrant: Surrender of Fugitive Offenders between Mainland China
Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque...397

Bokhary, Witzleb and Srivastava (eds), Tort Law and Practice in Hong Kong
Craig Purshouse...401

Alec Stone Sweet on The Constitution and the Civil Code in East Asia: China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (HKLJ)

"The Constitution and the Civil Code in East Asia: China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan"
Alec Stone Sweet
Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 55, Part 2 of 2025, pp.153 - 162

Introduction: In East Asian legal systems, national constitutional law and civil codes are developing in increasingly inter-dependent ways, shaping how lawyers plead and judges resolve certain types of cases, and how doctrinal authorities understand the underlying structure of their respective legal systems. Viewed globally, the “constitutionalisation” of the private law in Asia expands comparative inquiry, inviting scholars to revisit old debates and to consider a new set of questions. In each of the countries under consideration here, the forces driving such processes are complex and multi-dimensional. It is no surprise that in Japan, South Korea and the Taiwan Area, change in how high courts exercise their powers of constitutional judicial review have been crucial to enhancing the salience of rights to the litigation of the civil code. In contrast, the Chinese legal system does not feature a constitutional or supreme court, and judicial review of statute is formally prohibited (but see the discussion of the Supreme People’s Court in Bu and Ding). Nonetheless, the new Chinese Civil Code has revived debates about review — and the juridical status of the Constitution — among Chinese legislators, judges, lawyers and scholars.

Chong Bu on China’s Civil Code as a Super-Statute: Ramifications for Constitutional Theory (HKLJ)

"China’s Civil Code as a Super-Statute: Ramifications for Constitutional Theory"
Chong Bu (PhD Candidate)
Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 55, Part 2 of 2025, pp.253 - 276

Abstract: The concept of a super-statute refers to an ordinary statutory law with constitutional characteristics, distinguished by its function, normative framework and far-reaching impact. Comparative constitutional experiences highlight the global prevalence of super-statutes as a crucial vehicle for constitutional development. This article examines the role of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a super-statute in developing and entrenching constitutional norms through constitutionalisation of private law, particularly in light of the absent judicial enforceability of the country’s formal constitution. The Civil Code serves as an important legal instrument for governance, fulfilling key constitutional roles in regulating governmental behaviour, safeguarding rights, balancing social interests, upholding fundamental values and navigating societal advancement. Through its established co-ordination mechanisms for judicial application, the Civil Code wields a broad and profound influence across China’s political, legal and societal spheres.

Zhuo Ding on Constitution Talk in the Chinese Civil Courts: Constructing the Constitution through the Civil Code? (HKLJ)

"Constitution Talk in the Chinese Civil Courts: Constructing the Constitution through the Civil Code?"
Zhuo Ding (PhD Candidate)
Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 55, Part 2 of 2025, pp.277 - 297

Abstract: This article examines the phenomenon of “Constitution Talk” (CT) — explicit references to China’s Constitution in civil court proceedings — to analyze its role in the constitutionalization of the Civil Code. Drawing on empirical data from 2018 civil cases (2017–2024) across three provinces, the study explores how judges and litigants invoke constitutional norms to interpret ambiguous provisions, resolve jurisdictional conflicts and conduct informal judicial reviews. Findings reveal that CT is intensifying, particularly in expropriation and environmental cases, serving as a governance tool to align civil law with constitutional principles. However, its impact is constrained in politically sensitive domains, such as reproductive rights, where courts prioritise policy over constitutional arguments. The study argues that CT reflects a dynamic interplay between legal innovation and state control, offering insights into China’s evolving legal governance under the Civil Code. While CT enhances judicial legitimacy and rights protection, its boundaries underscore the enduring influence of Party policy on constitutional discourse.

Hilary So and Anfield Tam on The Interface between Arbitration Clauses and Insolvency Proceedings (HKLJ)

"The Interface between Arbitration Clauses and Insolvency Proceedings"
Hilary So (PCLL graduate) and Anfield Tam (PCLL graduate)
Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 55, Part 2 of 2025, pp.321 - 340

Abstract: This article reviews the line of authorities laid down by the English, Singaporean and Hong Kong courts concerning the approach to stay or dismiss an insolvency petition where the underlying debt is subject to an arbitration clause. While the Hong Kong Approach exhibit logically inconsistencies with its policy preferences by requiring parties to take steps to arbitrate (ie the third Lasmos requirement) before the court’s discretion to stay insolvency proceedings is triggered, the English Approach is overly restrictive with excessive emphasis on the doctrinal mechanism of insolvency law. Accordingly, this article shows preference for the Singaporean Approach, which strikes a fair balance in integrating the policy and doctrinal concerns in relation to arbitration law in the insolvency context, as the basis for Hong Kong’s legal reform. This article concludes by suggesting that the court’s discretion to stay insolvency petitions should generally be exercised unless in so doing an abuse of process would be resulted. Meanwhile, it would be best practice for the parties to spell out in the arbitration clause whether they intend the clause to cover insolvency proceedings in any event.

Michael Cheung and Anne Cheung on The Legal Fiction of Equal Authenticity: A Study of Judicial Interpretation of Bilingual Legislation in Hong Kong (HKLJ)

"The Legal Fiction of Equal Authenticity: A Study of Judicial Interpretation of Bilingual Legislation in Hong Kong"
Michael MK Cheung and Anne SY Cheung
Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 55, Part 2 of 2025, pp.341 - 371

Abstract: The principle of equal authenticity seeks to give equal status to Chinese and English legislative texts in Hong Kong. However, challenges arise due to discrepancies between the languages, leading to criticisms of this principle as a legal fiction. Are Hong Kong judges able to maintain equal authority for both language versions of the law? A study of Hong Kong court judgments on s 10B of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance since 1987 finds that while the courts were able to reconcile the two language versions in the majority of cases, the English text was often prioritized in cases of irreconcilable differences since it was enacted first in time. Notably, the Court of Final Appeal’s decision in HKSAR v Chan Chun Kit affirmed this practice, impacting equal authenticity, the rule of law and fairness. The authors propose to repeal and re-enact all authenticated Chinese provisions, or those problematic provisions denounced by the court. At the very least, the public should be alerted that they are reading subsequently authenticated translated texts. Addressing these issues is vital for maintaining the integrity and clarity of legal interpretations in bilingual jurisdictions such as Hong Kong.

The paper is also available on SSRN, please click here.

Book review of Tort Law and Practice in Hong Kong by Craig Purshouse (HKLJ)

"Bokhary, Witzleb and Srivastava (eds), Tort Law and Practice in Hong Kong"
Craig Purshouse
Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 55, Part 2 of 2025, pp.401 - 403

Introduction: For the latest edition of this leading reference work, the Honourable Mr Justice Kemal Bokhary NPJ remains as editor-in-chief and is joined by two new general editors: Prof Normann Witzleb of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Dr Neerav Srivastava of Deakin University (replacing Mr Neville Sarony KC, SC and Prof Dhirendra Srivastava). This formidable team is to be congratulated for assembling a line-up of talented academics and practitioners to produce a comprehensive and erudite account of tort law in Hong Kong.

Anfield Tam on The Tort of Malicious Falsehood and Mental Distress Damages (Torts Law Journal)

"The tort of malicious falsehood and mental distress damages"

Anfield Tam (BSocSc(Govt&Laws)&LLB 2024, PCLL 2025)

Torts Law Journal

Published online: July 2025

Abstract: It has been 124 years since the apex court in the UK last considered the tort of malicious falsehood. This common law tort has since been modified by statute such that the claimant no longer has to establish pecuniary loss to make out the claim. In George v Cannell, the UK Supreme Court returned a split decision as to whether the claimant can recover mental distress damages in the absence of pecuniary loss. The Court’s decision is appraised for clarifying the availability of mental distress damages for malicious falsehood. Yet, in rejecting the possibility of awarding such damages as an independent claim to pecuniary damages, the majority preferred doctrinal rigidity over making compensation for the actual loss suffered by the claimant, thereby also casting doubt on the effect of statutory modification of the tort.

Yun Zhao on International Regulatory Regime for MegaConstellations: A Path to Equitable Access to Outer Space (Air and Space Law)

"International Regulatory Regime for MegaConstellations: A Path to Equitable Access to Outer Space"
Yun Zhao
Air and Space Law, Volume 50, Special Issue (2025) pp. 591 – 600
Published online: September 2025

Abstract: The deployment of mega-constellations, as a significant advancement in space technology and commercialization in the twenty-first century, calls for a comprehensive regulatory framework. This article examines the existing legal and policy landscape, identifies regulatory gaps and puts forward suggestions on how to come up with a cohesive international regulatory regime for mega-constellations to ensure the long-term sustainability of space activities. Given the difficulty of achieving a binding legal regime, a pragmatic approach should be adopted at the current stage in enacting guiding principles or concrete guidelines for the responsible deployment and operation of mega-constellations in the interim, laying a solid practical foundation for a binding regime in the future.

Jedidiah Kroncke on LPE and workplace organization (New book chapter)

"LPE and workplace organization"
Jedidiah Kroncke
in John D. Haskell(ed), Research Handbook on Law and Political Economy (2nd edition, Edward Elgar Publishing, September 2025), Chapter 33, pp. 562 - 576
Published online: September 2025

Abstract: Critical scholarship on workplace law has a long traditional of emphasizing the central role of extralegal factors in the effective realization of both individual employment rights and regimes of collective bargaining. Classic and contemporary scholarship in law and political economy builds on this awareness by emphasizing the interconnection of workplace law with other core areas of economic organization—notably antitrust and corporate law. Moreover, such scholarship also illustrates the disabling legacy of isolating workplace organization from broader debates about the necessary economic dimensions of democratic citizenship writ large. Instead, LPE approaches emphasize the social centrality of the workplace as a forum for exercising and developing democratic agency that is mutually reinforcing and energizing with formal political institutions and enfranchisement. This chapter will highlight recent scholarship which shows how an LPE perspective on workplace organization illustrates both the promise of LPE approaches for identifying the illusory nature of the public/private law divide as well as for mapping out the inter-related reforms necessary for promoting a renewed, robust vision of democratic citizenship. One key quandary explored will be how to integrate existing traditions of critical work on employment rights and collective bargaining with current interest in fundamentally reshaping the place of labor in the decision-making of economic enterprises.

James Fry and Maria Jose Alarcon on The centrality of riparian community interests in ICJ adjudication of bilateral water disputes (JERL)

"The centrality of riparian community interests in ICJ adjudication of bilateral water disputes"
James Fry and Maria Jose Alarcon
Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law
Published online: September 2025

Abstract: The jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice consistently focuses on the ‘community of interest of riparian states’ when resolving its international water disputes, including those disputes of a bilateral nature. Contrary to the beliefs of some scholars, global community interests also do not feature in these cases. Using as its foundation a population census of all international water disputes before the ICJ, this article maps out how this court and its predecessor have handled these types of disputes. It suggests that non-global, riparian community interests prevail with these disputes.

Ying Xia on Guerrilla Lawyering: Mobile Resistance in China’s Environmental Public Interest Litigation (LSR)

"Guerrilla Lawyering: Mobile Resistance in China’s Environmental Public Interest Litigation"
Ying Xia
Law & Society Review, First View, pp. 1 - 27
Published online: September 2025

Abstract: This study examines the transformation of environmental public interest lawyering in China within an ever-tightening legal order, where activists confront both state suppression and co-optation. Utilizing qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews with 49 environmental lawyers and activists, participant observations, and online ethnography, the research delineates two divergent models of legal mobilization. The conventional model prioritizes compliance with state regulations, employing impact litigation and consensus-building with state institutions to drive incremental environmental reforms, often at the cost of aligning with state priorities. In contrast, guerrilla lawyering emerges as an innovative strategy, leveraging decentralized networks, experimentalist litigation, flexible funding, and diffused media tactics to sustain activism while preserving autonomy. By transforming courts into platforms for generating critical information and exposing systemic vulnerabilities, guerrilla lawyering resists assimilation into state-controlled schemes. This approach not only ensures movement survival amidst repression but also enriches theoretical understandings of legal mobilization under authoritarianism by addressing the understudied risk of co-optation. These findings illuminate the resilience and ingenuity of activists in China’s constrained environmental advocacy landscape and offer a transferable framework for resistance for social movements in other authoritarian contexts, amid the global rise of authoritarian legality.

Ryan Whalen et al on Measuring the Value of Trademark Distinctiveness: Evidence From the Market for Bordeaux Wine (JELS)

"Measuring the Value of Trademark Distinctiveness: Evidence From the Market for Bordeaux Wine"
Christopher Buccafusco, Jonathan S. Masur, Ryan Whalen
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies
Published online: September 2025

Abstract: The market value of distinctive trademarks is a fundamental assumption of both trademark law and marketing theory. However, there is little empirical evidence underlying this assumption. We examine the relationship between brand dissimilarity and market prices in the context of the Bordeaux wine market. Using a unique dataset covering thousands of wines and their associated prices and professional ratings, we find that brand distinctiveness is related to higher wine prices. We further show that this relationship persists across the wine quality spectrum, with both lower quality and higher quality wines benefiting from dissimilar marks. Finally, we show that while there is a dissimilarity price premium for lower quality wines, producers who invest in higher quality wines are rewarded with an even greater premium for dissimilar names in absolute dollar terms.

Eric Ip on Planetary health ethics: A Confucian alternative (The Journal of Climate Change and Health)

"Planetary health ethics: A Confucian alternative"
Eric Ip
The Journal of Climate Change and Health, Volume 22
Published online: December 2024

Abstract: Planetary health acknowledges that the disruptions and deterioration of natural systems pose a significant and pressing threat to human beings and the interconnected network of life. The perceived dichotomy between anthropocentrism and ecocentrism is a human construct that reflects the binary thinking that has dominated Western philosophy. The anthropocosmic perspective of Confucian ethics highlights the interdependence between humans, their communities, the environment, and the cosmos, emphasizing that environmental well-being is vital to personal health and wellness. Confucianism also asserts that humans are a product of nature and should embody the principles of life and growth to become compassionate individuals in harmony with the universe. Consequently, human existence is inherently tied to nature, and the deterioration of the environment eventually harms humanity. A Confucian planetary health ethic prioritizes the concept of humanity's oneness with all things. Given that the Earth system now experiences less stable patterns than before, humans must assume accountability for anthropogenic climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. We must begin to appreciate that the rest of the biosphere is closely linked to our physical body.

New Issue of Hong Kong Journal of Legal Studies (Volume 18, 2024)

HONG KONG JOURNAL OF LEGAL STUDIES

Volume 18, 2024

Editors-in-Chief: Megan Louie, Prakritee Yonzon

Publisher: University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword
Ms. Olga Boltenko...i

Preface
Megan Louie and Prakritee Yonzon...iv

Rethinking Lasmos: The effect of Arbitration Clauses on Insolvency Proceedings in Hong Kong
Zhang Jiaqi...1

The Anatomy of the Six-Step Sentencing Approach for Drug Trafficking: Consolidating Herry Lane Yusuph, Lee Ming Ho, and Raman Kapusamy
Jonathan Chung Wa Ho, Justin Chan Wan...31

The next step after Sham: Why and how will civil partnerships be introduced in Hong Kong? Further, will same sex marriage be recognized in Hong Kong?
Ip Chin Victoria...65

Curbing Trademark Bullies through Compensation Liability: The Approach of Chinese Judges in the Anti-Counterfeit Bulk Lawsuits of Trademark Infringement
Junsong Feng...89

Pets in Protection Orders: A Comparative Analysis of Four Common Law Frameworks and Recommendations to Expand Hong Kong’s Animal Law Regime
Shi Tao Zhang...121

Zhang Jiaqi on Rethinking Lasmos: The effect of Arbitration Clauses on Insolvency Proceedings in Hong Kong (HKJLS)

"Rethinking Lasmos: The effect of Arbitration Clauses on Insolvency Proceedings in Hong Kong"
Zhang Jiaqi (BBA(Law)&LLB)
Hong Kong Journal of Legal Studies (Volume 18, 2024), pp. 1 - 29

Abstract: When the Companies Court in Hong Kong examines a winding-up petition on insolvency grounds, and the debt that is relied on contains a valid arbitration clause, what is the correct approach for the Court so as to balance all competing interests and achieve a fair and reasonable outcome? This seemingly vanilla question has given rise to enormous debates and uncertainties in a variety of common law jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK. This paper aims to present the development on the area of law, reconcile the competing values underlying arbitration and insolvency, and propose an ideal standard to be adopted by the Hong Kong courts. It also makes observations on judicial practices of Hong Kong courts on this issue since 1997, which may offer some insights to practitioners when drafting agreements which are governed by Hong Kong law and contain an arbitration clause.

Jonathan Chung Wa Ho and Justin Chan Wan on The Anatomy of the Six-Step Sentencing Approach for Drug Trafficking (HKJLS)

"The Anatomy of the Six-Step Sentencing Approach for Drug Trafficking: Consolidating Herry Lane Yusuph, Lee Ming Ho, and Raman Kapusamy"
Jonathan Chung Wa Ho and Justin Chan Wan (BSocSc (Government and Laws) and LLB)
Hong Kong Journal of Legal Studies (Volume 18, 2024), pp. 31 - 64

Abstract: The recent cases of HKSAR v Lee Ming Ho and HKSAR v Raman Kapusamy contribute crucial clarity to the sixstep sentencing approach formulated in HKSAR v Herry Jane Yusuph. This trio of trafficking cases chart a course for Hong Kong’s move away from a prescriptive arithmetical drug sentencing policy, and towards a more discretionary, structured and individualised assessment of culpability. By offering a consolidation of these three cases, we analyse the core rationale adopted by the Hong Kong Court of Appeal, and the potential extension of

such to subsequent cases when the six-step approach operates in tandem with pre-existing sentencing principles. We focus our analysis on the delineation between ‘role and culpability’ and ‘aggravating factors’, the availability of mitigating factors, and the overall proportionality assessment required by the principle of totality.

Ip Chin Victoria on The next step after Sham: Why and how will civil partnerships be introduced in Hong Kong? Further, will same sex marriage be recognized in Hong Kong? (HKJLS)

"The next step after Sham: Why and how will civil partnerships be introduced in Hong Kong? Further, will same sex marriage be recognized in Hong Kong?"
Ip Chin Victoria (BSocSc (Government and Laws) & LLB)
Hong Kong Journal of Legal Studies (Volume 18, 2024), pp. 65 - 87

Abstract: Pursuant to the Court of Final Appeal’s judgment Sham Tsz Kit v Secretary for Justice [2023] HKCFA 28, it is the responsibility of the HKSAR Government to put in place an alternative legal framework that recognises same-sex partnerships with appropriate rights and protections attendant on such recognition within two (2) years. This essay aims to explore questions in relation to how might the Government propose the alternative legal framework, and eventually whether same-sex marriage will be legalised in Hong Kong by comprehensively analysing the judgment of Sham, as well as social and political factors that may influence the Government’s decision.