Hailiang Xiong on The Legislative Adjustment of Chinese Enforcement Regulation of the International Commercial Settlement Agreement in the context of the Singapore mediation convention (JIDS)

"The Legislative Adjustment of Chinese Enforcement Regulation of the International Commercial Settlement Agreement in the context of the Singapore mediation convention"
Hailiang Xiong (LLM Graduate 2024)
Journal of International Dispute Settlement, Volume 16, Issue 1, March 2025, idae025
Published online: January 2025

Abstract: The United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation has established an external legal framework for the cross-border enforcement of international commercial mediation settlement agreements. By virtue of the two-aspect institutional design, this Convention has constructed a modern mechanism for the direct enforcement of international commercial mediated settlement agreements. As one of the first signatories, China does not yet have the specific mediation legislation to conform to the Convention and cannot channel the Singapore Convention. This article discussed the dilemma of the ratification of the Singapore Convention in China from a comparative perspective and argues that China should adjust its mediation regulation by reducing the requirement of application for enforcement and limiting the judicial supervision to establish a direct enforcement mechanism following the potential international obligation under the Singapore Convention and further refine the macro mediation system.

Hui Jing and Wanyi Zhang on Enforcing Chinese charitable trusts (Trusts & Trustees)

"Enforcing Chinese charitable trusts"
Wanyi Zhang, Hui Jing
Trusts & Trustees, ttaf002
Published Online: January 2025

Abstract: This article examines the enforcement mechanisms of Chinese charitable trusts, highlighting the limitations of public law enforcement by civil affairs departments due to resource constraints. Through a comparative analysis of the English particular interest rule, it explores alternative enforcement frameworks, arguing that the beneficiary–recipient debate, while academically insightful, does not address practical enforcement challenges. The study suggests that the public law elements of charitable trusts necessitate a flexible, context-sensitive enforcement approach. For Chinese courts, the focus should be on whether supporting a plaintiff-charitable trust beneficiary’s claim ensures proper management of trust property and preserves the public benefit.

Scott Veitch on Friendship, Labour, Attention: Thinking with Simone Weil (CLT)

"What Matters?"
Scott Veitch
Critical Legal Thinking
Published online: January 2025

As part of a series on "Friendship, Labour, Attention: Thinking with Simone Weil" co-edited by Scott Veitch (HKU) and Maksymilian Del Mar (QMU London), Scott Veitch's contribution - 'What Matters?' - is here: 

Please click here to view full text.

Hualing Fu on Managed freedom in precarious times: Maintaining academic freedom in transitional Hong Kong (GlobCon)

"Managed freedom in precarious times: Maintaining academic freedom in transitional Hong Kong"
Hualing Fu
Global Constitutionalism
Published online: January 2025

Abstract: This article examines the status of academic freedom in Hong Kong in light of the increasing securitization of higher education since the implementation of the National Security Law (NSL) in 2020. It provides an analytical framework to comprehend the changing landscape of academic freedom in Hong Kong, highlighting the impact of the NSL and the conflict between the necessity of political control on securitized campuses and the demand for international, free, and high-quality universities to make Hong Kong a global hub for higher education. The article concludes by asserting that the NSL has reshaped and will continue to impact academic freedom and university autonomy concerning core security issues, but there is still a possibility to establish a defendable space for genuine academic freedom in classrooms.

Anfield Tam on The requisite intention for constituting a Quistclose trust (Trusts & Trustees)

"The requisite intention for constituting a Quistclose trust"
Anfield Tam (PCLL student)
Trusts & Trustees
Published online: January 2025

Abstract: In China Life Trustees Ltd v China Energy Reserve and Chemical Group Overseas Co Ltd [2024] HKCFA 15, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal clarified that a positive intention for the transferor to retain beneficial interest in the transferred assets is not necessary for a Quistclose trust to arise. Rather, it suffices when the parties intended the transferred assets to be used exclusively for a specific purpose, such that it is not at the transferee’s free disposal. This note appraises the decision for disentangling the conceptual nuances between these two types of intention. The Court rightly held that the transferor’s retention of beneficial interest is merely a legal consequence of the restrictive intention, as on a correct reading of the authorities such retention need not be intended for a Quistclose trust to arise.

Daniel Bell on China in the Year 2050: A Look Backwards (Society)

"China in the Year 2050: A Look Backwards"
Daniel A. Bell
Society
Published online: January 2025

Abstract: This article discusses China’s political history from 2025 to 2050. In 2025, there was strong support for the political system due to measures that curbed corruption, reduced pollution, and alleviated poverty, but intellectuals felt stifled by increased repression. From 2025 to 2035—known as China’s “Lost Decade”—China’s economy worsened and relations with the USA further deteriorated, nearly leading to war. The next fifteen years—known as China’s “Golden Age”—saw unparalleled prosperity, an open and pluralistic political system, the setting up of the East Asian Union, and sustained cooperation with the USA to deal with global challenges. Nobody knows what will happen after 2050, but we need optimistic and realistic political scenarios to inspire change for the future.

Jedidiah Kroncke on An Empire of Anti-Democracy: The Imperial Legacies of American Territorial Labor (WLR)

"An Empire of Anti-Democracy: The Imperial Legacies of American Territorial Labor"
Jedidiah J. Kroncke
Washington Law Review (Vol. 99, No. 4 (2024))
Published online: January 2025

Abstract: A great deal of recent attention has been given to acknowledging the full historical scope of American empire and its legal foundations. A recurrent focus of this attention has been the impact of the Insular Cases—a set of early twentieth century doctrines that legitimate American territorial acquisitions while denying their full incorporation under the United States Constitution. Issues of political citizenship and property have thus predominated critical work on the Insular Cases.

This Article expands on this resurgent interest by focusing on another critical element of this acknowledgment: the history of territorial labor which has long been central to the political economy of American empire. Explicating the role and regulation of territorial labor enables a more complete picture of American empire and centers its evolving pursuit of new legal forms to project national power while avoiding democratic accountability.

Most concretely, the unprincipled doctrines of the Insular Cases have led to a paradigm of perpetually precarious bargaining in which territorial labor only enjoys the formal protection of labor and employment law subject to complete federal discretion and potential revocation. Mapping the diverse and contingent legal regimes this bargaining has produced unearths all too many tragedies past and present as the largely invisible labor of territorial people has been circulated throughout American empire while building its economic and military foundations.

Further complicating this formally inchoate set of rights are the practical realities territorial labor has historically been subject to under conditions of American empire: localized employer domination, tactics of racialized labor migration, and the overshadowing anti-democratic disciplinary rationales of U.S. national security. These realities are evident throughout the diverse range of contemporary territories as well as in their scarring effects within former American territories and military occupations. Moreover, imperial labor’s roaming logics of dehumanization are today increasingly displaced onto even more vulnerable foreign migrant workers within many territories themselves.

Acknowledging the role of territorial labor in American empire blurs the line between territorial and incorporated life and law. Most powerfully, it reveals how the conditions of territorial labor reflect back the enervated nature of American economic citizenship writ large. This reflection is just one of the many ways in which territorial history presents lessons increasingly applicable to broader swaths of American life under conditions of modern economic globalization. The Article ultimately integrates territorial history into renewed demands for a democratic political economy for all those living under American sovereignty.

Gary Meggitt on The Changing Landscape of Professional Liabilities (New book chapter)

"The Changing Landscape of Professional Liabilities"
Gary Meggitt
in Insurability of Emerging Risks: Law, Theory and Practice, edited by Baris Soyer and Özlem Gürses (Bloomsbury Publishing, January 2025), Chapter 11, pp. 233 - 254
Published in January 2025

Introduction: Once upon a time, it was relatively easy to identify who was ‘a professional’ . As the authors of Jackson & Powell on Professional Liability put it, ‘the occupations which are regarded as professions have four characteristics’ . These are the ‘mental’ rather than ‘manual’ nature of their work; the ‘moral’ or ‘societal’ aspects of their role; the existence of collective organisations to which they belong and which oversee their activities; and the elevated social status which they enjoy.

Those characteristics are passing into history. Professionals’ work may still be mental rather than manual, but the quality of their work is no longer ‘judged’ by their professional peers but by the managers of the corporate entities in which they are now often employed. Moreover, emerging technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), presents an even greater challenge. Can a ‘bot’ be a barrister ? If not, why not ? If an architect uses AI to design a building and that design is defective, who is to blame ? The architect or the AI or the AI’s developer ? If the design is superlative, who takes the credit ?

The demise of traditional partnerships and the ‘commercialization’ of their practices has exacerbated the tensions between professionals’ disparate ethical duties to their colleagues, clients and the wider community. The supervisory role of collective organisations such as national law societies has been diluted by the growth of statutory regulatory bodies and, in the view of some, sidestepped by multinational professional service firms. Finally, professionals’ supposed social status has been all but eradicated by the public’s disinclination to defer to their ‘betters’. This is reflected, most importantly for professional indemnity (PI) insurers, in the growth of claims against professionals for both their own alleged misconduct and in ‘facilitating’ the misconduct of others.

This chapter addresses the changing nature of the work, obligations and regulation of professionals by reference to the ‘four characteristics’ in Jackson & Powell. It considers the possible risks that may be brought about by these changes. It discusses the need for policyholders and insurers to familiarise themselves with these risks and to address them when it comes to their practices (in the case of the former) and underwriting, claims management possible development of alternative forms of cover (in the latter’s case). Although this chapter focuses on legal professionals (so as to keep it to a manageable length) it touches upon the experiences of other professions where appropriate. Finally, although it concentrates on developments in the UK, it does not neglect those in other significant jurisdictions.

Kelvin Kwok on An Autonomy Theory of Consumer Protection Law (Antitrust Law Journal)

"An Autonomy Theory of Consumer Protection Law"
Kelvin Kwok
Antitrust Law Journal, Volume 86, Issue 2 (2024) pp. 411-472
Published online: December 2024

Abstract: This article sets forth a new autonomy theory of consumer protection law (CPL), drawing on Joseph Raz’s framework on personal autonomy and explicating the relationship between CPL interventions and the independence, rationality, and opportunity dimensions of autonomy. It seeks to contrast the autonomy perspective on freedom of choice and the corresponding role of CPL with the prevailing welfarist perspective, arguing that the autonomy perspective should be preferred because it better fits the function of CPL than the welfarist perspective, apart from resting firmly on the value of personal autonomy. It proceeds to explore the autonomy-based functions of CPL with regard to choice facilitation, choice enhancement, and choice limitation. The article argues that, as compared to the welfarist perspective, the autonomy perspective can more persuasively explain the need for a holistic approach to choice enhancement and the value of eco-friendly options, as well as the regulatory preference for choice facilitation over choice limitation in choice overload and complexity situations.

Please click here to read the full article on Antitrust Law Journal.

Please click here to read the full article on SSRN.

Massimo Lando on Baseline Preservation as a Response to Sea-Level Rise (Ocean Development & International Law)

"Baseline Preservation as a Response to Sea-Level Rise"
Massimo Lando
Ocean Development & International Law
Published online: January 2025

Abstract: To combat the adverse effects of climate-change-driven sea-level rise, an increasing number of states have started preserving baselines. In this context, preservation means making baselines permanent despite changes to the coastline resulting from sea-level rise. In 2023, the International Law Commission’s Study Group on Sea-level rise in relation to international law released its Additional Paper on the impact of sea-level rise on the law of the sea. The Additional Paper focused on the states’ views concerning the possibility of preserving baselines irrespective of coastal changes caused by sea-level rise. However, the Additional Paper did not include a convincing methodological framing of the question of baseline preservation. This article frames this question as one of custom formation or treaty interpretation, arguing that neither framing would allow one to conclude that positive international law sanctions the preservation of baselines, but that there are viable solutions de lege ferenda to achieve it.

Lucien J. van Romburg on Digital Finance and Regulatory Competition: Regulating Distributed Ledger Technology-Based Financial Products and Services (Wolters Kluwer)

Digital Finance and Regulatory Competition: Regulating Distributed Ledger Technology-Based Financial Products and Services
Lucien J. van Romburg (PhD 2023)
Wolters Kluwer
Publication date: 18 November 2024

Overview: This is a book addressing the question of whether the world’s leading financial centres – Hong Kong, London, and New York – engaged in regulatory competition with one another through their formulation of the rules to govern distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based financial products and services in their respective jurisdictions during the period 2008-2022. In light of this, the book furnishes a clear and cohesive framework to understand the influence of regulatory competition in the world’s major financial centres, utilising a narrative lens built on a comparative study of legal, regulatory, and policy instruments. The outcome is an exhaustive and thought-provoking analysis which distils observations regarding the regulation of DLT-based financial products and services and the potential implications for the future regulation of other novel technologies in the financial services industry.

More details are available here.

Douglas Arner and Christine Wang on Bigtechs and the Emergence of New Systemically Important Financial Institutions: Lessons from the Chinese Experience (EILR)

"Bigtechs and the Emergence of New Systemically Important Financial Institutions: Lessons from the Chinese Experience"
Christine M. Wang, Douglas W. Arner
Emory International Law Review (Vol. 39,  Iss. 1 (2024))
Published online: December 2024

Abstract: Over the past two decades, the emergence of giant technology firms (Bigtechs) has disrupted the traditional way that financial markets operate. These technology giants have leveraged network effects, massive amounts of data, and extensive customer bases to expand into the financial sector and rapidly achieve economies of scale and scope. The expansion of Bigtechs into finance has reinforced the pre-existing trends of digitalization and datafication in finance, which has evolved into a new era of the platformization. With a substantial presence in financial markets, the development of digital finance platforms has enormous potential for enhancing financial inclusion, efficiency and sustainable development. Despite these benefits, there are also many issues and risks in relation to their involvement in financial services, such as the emergence of new “too-big-to-fail” and “too-connected-to-fail” problems and the development of new systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs). In this context, the question is how policymakers and regulators, along with industry and consumers, can effectively leverage the benefits of the platformization of finance while mitigating its risks and negative impacts.

This article focuses on the experience and lessons learned from China, in particular, as it has been a pioneer in the platformization of finance. As the potential problems arising from Bigtechs’ market dominance and economies of scale have become increasingly prominent, they have become the focus of a multi-pronged response from the Chinese government, particularly from the second half of 2020. In the context of digital finance, risks involved in platform-based and highly interconnected financial activities are being addressed via multiple areas of law, including finance, competition and antitrust, data protection and cybersecurity. Based on the Chinese experience, the broad cross-sectoral and rapidly evolving nature of Bigtech businesses requires a reconsideration of the complex interaction between different government policies and regulatory objectives.

Drawing from the lessons of China’s experience, this article frames a number of strategies and recommendations for other jurisdictions that are exploring ways to regulate the emergence of the platformization of finance. Firstly, due to the rapidly evolving nature of Bigtech businesses, it is important to develop regulatory mechanisms that allow for timely review and adaptation to facilitate understanding of innovative financial services before risk events occur. Secondly, the exclusive control of customer data by Bigtechs is likely to undermine competition in financial markets, thus requiring effective data sharing mechanisms, such as Open Finance initiatives, to break data monopolies. Furthermore, given their combination of network effects and economics of scope and scale, digital finance platforms are in increasing cases becoming systemically important. There is a need for both activity-based and entity-based regulations to address risks involved in the interconnected financial businesses of these new SIFIs.