Welcome the new Global Academic Fellow Dr Valeria Vázquez Guevara!

Welcome to Dr Valeria Vázquez Guevara who joined the HKU Faculty of Law as a Global Academic Fellow!

Dr Valeria Vázquez Guevara is a Salvadoran-Spanish scholar of international law and institutions. Valeria’s research engages with ‘law and humanities’ scholarship in addressing questions of international law, its institutions, and geopolitical implications, especially between North-South and South-South states and actors. The research builds on Valeria’s personal and professional experiences in international development and peacebuilding projects in El Salvador, Spain, the Basque Country, and South Africa.
     As a Global Fellow, Valeria’s post-doctoral research, provisionally titled “North-South Encounters: International Law and the Geopolitics of Contestation”, examines how global South states and actors have pushed for different ways of understanding, and imagining, international law. Here Valeria is particularly interested in how the global South develops creative (and unexpected) diplomatic practices to engage with, and pushback against, international law and institutions.
     Prior to joining HKU, Valeria undertook doctoral studies at Melbourne Law School, under the supervision of Professors Sundhya Pahuja and Shaun McVeigh. Valeria’s doctoral thesis examined the relationship between Truth Commissions and international law. The thesis focused on the ways in which this relationship produces an official account of past violence and promises of future community, which fundamentally conditions how communities live together in the aftermath of violent conflict. Methodologically, the thesis analyzed the representation and contestation of authority deployed by three cultural objects associated with three Truth Commissions: a literary prologue (Argentina 1983-1984), a museum of memory (Chile, 1990-1991), and a tapestry (El Salvador, 1992-1993). This research has been published in Leiden Journal of International Law, London Review of International Law, the Routledge Handbook of International Law and the Humanities, and will form the basis of a monograph titled Truth Commissions: The Authority of International Law and the State after Conflict.
     Valeria is also collaborating on two research projects. One is with Dr Claerwen O’Hara (La Trobe Law School) examining the legal-political initiatives of the multilateral organization, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (‘ALBA’ for its acronym in Spanish). This collaboration also includes a workshop on ‘International Law in the early 2000s’. The other project is with Dr Eliana Cusato (University of Amsterdam’s Centre for International Law). The first part of the collaboration involved a seminar series in 2021, examining the relationship between international law, transitional justice and power. The online series brought together nine speakers from universities in Australia, India, South Africa, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. This collaboration will continue in 2023-2024 with a series of lectures and research workshop on international law and the political economy of reparations.
     Valeria serves as managing editor of the Australian Feminist Law Journal, as co-chair of the History and Theory of International Law Interest Group of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL), and as a member of the executive committee of the Law, Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia.
     Valeria holds a PhD from Melbourne Law School (Australia), an MA in Peace Studies from the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame (US), an MA in Sociology of Law from the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (Basque Country/Spain), and an LLB from the University of Granada (Spain).

Research Areas:

• Public International Law
• International Law and Politics
• Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Institutions
• International Law and Development
• Law and Humanities

Congratulations to Professor Eric Ip!

Congratulations to Professor Eric Ip on his promotion to full professorship!

Professor Ip is an outstanding scholar who excels in research, teaching, and service. He has published extensively in high impact journals and with top publishers in various areas, including public law theories, Hong Kong and Chinese constitutions, and more recently, public health and legal and medical issues. Professor Ip is a valuable member of the faculty, and this promotion is well-deserved recognition of his contributions.

Wilson Lui on The Need for Finality and Certainty in International Commercial Dispute Resolution (new book chapter)

"The Need for Finality and Certainty in International Commercial Dispute Resolution"
Wilson Lui (Pre-Doctoral Fellow)
in Sundaresh Menon and Anselmo Reyes (eds), Transnational Commercial Disputes in an Age of Anti-Globalism and Pandemic (Hart Publishing: 2023),
Chapter 7, pp 183–208
Abstract: This chapter considers the notions of finality and certainty in international commercial dispute resolution, including their interactions with party autonomy, comity, and sovereignty. It looks at the different approaches to manage concurrent proceedings and to recognise and enforce judgments and awards, as well as the considerations of due process and public policy. It discusses how the Hague Conference on Private International Law, in particular the 2005 and 2019 HCCH Conventions, may promote finality and certainty by attempting to harmonise these different approaches. Lastly, it examines some of the effects and developments that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the landscape of international commercial dispute resolution.

Eric Ip on Harnessing Legal Structures of Virtue for Planetary Health (Journal of Medical Ethics)

"Harnessing legal structures of virtue for planetary health"
Eric Ip
Journal of Medical Ethics
Published online in March 2023
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jme-2022-108759

Abstract: Humans and other species depend on the planet’s well-being to survive and flourish. The health of the planet and its ecosystems is under threat from anthropogenic climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. The promotion of planetary health against entrenched degradation of nature urgently requires ethical guidance. Using an ecocentric virtue jurisprudence approach, this article argues that the highest end of safeguarding planetary health is to secure the flourishing of the Earth community, of which the flourishing of humanity is but one component. The article demonstrates how law, despite its historic role in facilitating our present planetary crisis, has an untapped potential to redeem itself by promoting planetary flourishing through the creation of conditions conducive to the practice of moral virtues, which can help meet the challenges of the Anthropocene. Once given an ecocentric interpretation, the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, courage and moderation, as well as their subvirtues, can justify or produce legal structures that address everything from the human right to a healthy environment to the rights of nature.

New Book by Daniel A. Bell (HKU LAW Chair Professor): The Dean of Shandong: Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University (Princeton University Press)

 "The Dean of Shandong: Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University"
Daniel A. Bell 
Princeton University Press
Published in March 2023
216 pp.

An inside view of Chinese academia and what it reveals about China’s political system

Synopsis:
      On January 1, 2017, Daniel Bell was appointed Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University―the first foreign dean of a political science faculty in mainland China’s history. In The Dean of Shandong, Bell chronicles his experiences as what he calls “a minor bureaucrat,” offering an inside account of the workings of Chinese academia and what they reveal about China’s political system. It wasn’t all smooth sailing―Bell wryly recounts sporadic bungles and misunderstandings―but Bell’s post as dean provides a unique vantage point on China today.

Bell, neither a Chinese citizen nor a member of the Chinese Communist Party, was appointed as Dean because of his scholarly work on Confucianism―but soon found himself coping with a variety of issues having little to do with scholarship or Confucius. These include the importance of hair color and the prevalence of hair-dying among university administrators, both male and female; Shandong’s drinking culture, with endless toasts at every shared meal; and some unintended consequences of an intensely competitive academic meritocracy. As Dean, he also confronts weightier matters: the role at the university of the Party secretary, the national anti-corruption campaign and its effect on academia (Bell asks provocatively, “What’s wrong with corruption?”), and formal and informal modes of censorship. Considering both the revival of Confucianism in China over the last three decades and what he calls “the Communist comeback” since 2008, Bell predicts that China’s political future is likely to be determined by both Confucianism and Communism.

About the Author:

      Daniel A. Bell is Chair Professor with the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong. He served as Dean at Shandong University's School of Political Science and Public Administration from 2017 to 2022. He is the author of The China Model, Just Hierarchy (with Wang Pei), Beyond Liberal Democracy, China's New Confucianism(all Princeton), and other books.

Praise: 

“In The Dean of Shandong, Daniel Bell takes us where few Westerners have gone—into the faculty lounge, teaching rooms, and party meetings of a Chinese university in the era of Xi Jinping. Think Lucky Jim meets Brave New World: Bell’s account of life as a senior Western academic in a Chinese university is by turns humane, disturbing, hilarious—and always eye-opening.”—Rana Mitter, author of Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937–1945

“Daniel Bell is wry, informed, open-minded, and enlightening in his look at Chinese bureaucracy from his years on the inside. Everyone interested in China will find new insights in this terse, funny book.”—James Fallows, author of China Airborne

“A leading interpreter of the Confucian tradition, Daniel Bell takes us into the citadel of contemporary Chinese higher education. Honest and wise, entertaining and witty, he tells the story of an illustrious scholarly life that began in French Canada and Oxford and led to the deanship at Shandong University, one of the most prestigious in China. The personal narrative sparkles, but Bell also analyzes with great clarity and insight the many challenges as well as promises facing China and Chinese intellectuals in the unfolding twenty-first century.”—Anna Sun, author of Confucianism as a World Religion: Contested Histories and Contemporary Realities

“If you think a book about a ‘minor educational bureaucrat’ in provincial China must be dull, think again. This is a sparkling, compulsively readable book about how an Oxford-educated Canadian political scientist became the leading theorist of political Confucianism in China. Bell’s story is charming and filled with self-deprecating humor, but it is also remarkably courageous, given the current climate. It will leave you with a sense that you understand the Chinese and the Chinese system much better than you did before.”—James Hankins, author of Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy

“Bell offers a fascinating glimpse into the workings of a Chinese university as both an insider (a dean) and an outsider (a Canadian). Along the way he treats, with a light hand, the cultural and philosophical underpinnings of contemporary China. This is a book anyone interested in that country will enjoy.”—Shadi Bartsch, author of Plato Goes to China: The Greek Classics and Chinese Nationalism

“Daniel Bell has rightly earned a reputation as the dean—both literally and figuratively—of Confucian studies. But even more important is his cosmopolitan and communitarian spirit, a compelling worldview that makes him a true bridge between East and West. The wisdom of this book—as with all of Bell’s writing—is both novel and universal.”—Parag Khanna, author of The Future is Asian

HKU Jessup Team crowned 2023 Hong Kong Overall Champion

           (Left to right): Mr Fergus Tam (coach), Abdullah Bin Azhar, Ambrose Yu, Tiffany Ng, Faith Lee, Alex Chan, Mr Thomas Lam (coach) 

The HKU Jessup Team was declared the Hong Kong Overall Champion of the 2023 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition on 11 and 12 March 2023. Jessup is known as one of the most prestigious international mooting competitions in the world. This year’s Jessup problem concerns the interpretation of a peace treaty, the law of occupation and self-defence, unilateral economic sanctions, and international environmental law on the disposal of hazardous waste.

     The Team consists of Abdullah Bin Azhar (PCLL), Chan Chun Hin Alex (PCLL), Yu Sheung Him Ambrose (BBA&LLB 5), Ng Yuen Tung Tiffany (LLB 4), and Lee Zee Faith (LLB 3). To prepare for the competition, the Team drafted two 11,600-word memorials and received rigorous advocacy training. After competing against other law schools in Hong Kong, HKU and the City University of Hong Kong advanced to the Grand Final, emerging as the highest and second-highest ranking teams in the preliminary rounds respectively. Oral submissions were heard before Mr Johnny Mok SC, BBS, JP from Des Voeux Chambers, Mr Jin Pao SC from Temple Chambers, and Ms Jessica Zhou from White & Case. In addition to the Champion title, the Team received the Best Respondent Memorial Award, as well as all Best Oralist awards, with Abdullah Bin Azhar, Alex Chan and Ambrose Yu receiving the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places of Best Oralist awards respectively.

      The Team would like to express their sincerest gratitude to the coaches, Mr Fergus Tam and Mr Thomas Lam, for their valuable feedback and guidance. The Team would also like to thank the guest judges, Mr Ernest Ng, Ms Astina Au, Ms Natalie So, Mr Ryan Cheung, Mr Jason Louie and Mr Raphael Leung, for their kind assistance and helpful advice. The Team will participate in the international rounds in Washington DC in April 2023, in which they will represent Hong Kong in competing against fellow advocates from around 100 countries and jurisdictions.

New Book by Anya Adair & Andrew Rabin: Law, Literature, and Social Regulation in Early Medieval England (Boydell & Brewer, Boydell Press)

Law, Literature, and Social Regulation in Early Medieval England
Anya Adair & Andrew Rabin
Series: Anglo-Saxon Studies
Boydell & Brewer, Boydell Press

Copyright Date: 2023

288 pp.
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2x4kpjc
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2x4kpjc

Book Description: Valuable new insights into the multi-layered and multi-directional relationship of law, literature, and social regulation in pre-Conquest English society. Pre-Conquest English law was among the most sophisticated in early medieval Europe. Composed largely in the vernacular, it played a crucial role in the evolution of early English identity and exercised a formative influence on the development of the Common Law. However, recent scholarship has also revealed the significant influence of these legal documents and ideas on other cultural domains, both modern and pre-modern. This collection explores the richness of pre-Conquest legal writing by looking beyond its traditional codified form. Drawing on methodologies ranging from traditional philology to legal and literary theory, and from a diverse selection of contributors offering a broad spectrum of disciplines, specialities and perspectives, the essays examine the intersection between traditional juridical texts - from law codes and charters to treatises and religious regulation - and a wide range of literary genres, including hagiography and heroic poetry. In doing so, they demonstrate that the boundary that has traditionally separated "law" from other modes of thought and writing is far more porous than hitherto realized. Overall, the volume yields valuable new insights into the multi-layered and multi-directional relationship of law, literature, and social regulation in pre-Conquest English society.

New Book by Angus Young & Kai-Uwe Seidenfuss: A Concise Guide to Corporate Compliance Management (2nd Edition)

"A Concise Guide to Corporate Compliance Management (2nd Edition)"
Dr Angus Young & Dr Kai-Uwe Seidenfuss
Wolters Kluwer (HK) (formerly CCH)
Published in March 2023
228 pp.

Book Description: Compliance is more than operating within the boundaries of the law and regulations. It epitomizes the norms and the integrity of an organization, and it contributes to good business results. Rather than just knowing and following the respective requirements, compliance management covers a wide range of areas.

      Moreover, effective compliance does require professionals who understand regulatory obligations, who listen to the business, including but not limited to skilful educators, counsellors, governance professionals, accountants, and facilitators.

     While the first edition outlined the key concepts of compliance and looked at the area from serval perspectives, this second edition also covers new topics including: New ISO standards on compliance management systems; Practitioners’ perspectives and selective discussions on regulators in financial services sector; and Discussions on the Three Line Model as well as leadership and impacts of the use of technology in compliance.

       The updated edition is meant to be practical and structured to support the reader, with insights for those already in the profession and for those thinking of entering the field. 

New Book Edited by Shahla Ali: Comparative and Transnational Dispute Resolution (Routledge)

Comparative and Transnational Dispute Resolution
Edited by Shahla Ali
Routledge 
Published in February 2023
270 pp.

Book Description: This edited volume presents research and policy insights into the theory and practice of dispute systems reform in diverse jurisdictions. It highlights how important extra-judicial mechanisms are for resolving cross-border disputes, as evidenced both by the breadth of scholarship dedicated to the issue and the proliferation of parties resorting to non-litigious dispute resolution mechanisms in recent years.

     Drawing on selected case studies, the book examines the impact of comparative research and policy analysis in advancing reform of dispute resolution institutions at both the regional and global levels. It explores the challenges and opportunities of understanding and assessing developments in systems of dispute resolution in diverse social and political contexts through comparative research.

     With a growing number of disputes which have come to involve cross-border issues, anyone interested in transnational and comparative dispute resolution will find this book a useful reference.

Reviews: 

‘An extraordinary collection of comparative perspectives is presented in this engaging book. It is arguably more important than at any time in the past, given increasing globalisation, to consider what current themes and approaches exist across jurisdictions that can enable us all to deal with disputes effectively. It is a delight to read and engage with the perspectives of these outstanding thinkers.’

Prof. Tania Sourdin, Dean and Head of School, Newcastle Law School

‘Anyone engaged in the serious study of legal dispute resolution should not only read this book, but also keep it at hand. Dispute resolution students, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers—especially but not only those working across borders—will find striking insights and actionable wisdom about how to research, design, and reform effective dispute resolution systems.’

Dr. Joshua Karton, Associate Professor, Queen’s University Faculty of Law

"This pathbreaking book brings new perspectives to the study of comparative and transnational alternative dispute resolution. It promises to change the way with we understand the laws, systems, and institutions undergirding the global practice of mediation, arbitration, and other extra-judicial methods."

Dr. Zach Calo, Professor of Law, Hamad bin Khalifa University College of Law and Public Policy

Summary of the book based on this link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4344527