RGC funded Collaborative Research Project on Insolvency Law Implications of Covid-19 in Hong Kong

Congratulations to the research team recently awarded a RGC Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) Grant of $3.11 million for the project "Hong Kong Insolvency and Restructuring Law and Policy in Times of COVID-19 and Beyond".  The project collects data on the impact of the pandemic on businesses in Hong Kong and considers whether reforms to Hong Kong's laws of insolvency and business restructuring are needed.  It is led by Professor Wai Yee Wan of City University of Hong Kong School of Law and includes Co-Principal Investigators from HKU Law (Mr Alwin Chan and Mr Kelvin Kwok) and City University of Hong Kong, and other collaborators from Oxford University and Leeds University.  This is yet another good example of a collaborative research project between HKU Law and CityU Law.  There are very few law-related projects supported by the CRF fund, so well done to the team and hopefully we will see more CRF collaborations between legal academics in Hong Kong.

Daisy Cheung and others on the Future Direction of Law Reform for Compulsory Mental Health Admission and Treatment in Hong Kong (Int'l J L & Psychiatry)

"Articulating future directions of law reform for compulsory mental health

admission and treatment in Hong Kong"

Daisy Cheung, Michael Dunnb, Elizabeth Fisteinc, Peter Bartlettd, John McMillane, Carole J. Petersen

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

Published in November 2019 online
Introduction: This article builds on the work of an international conference on the topic of compulsory mental health admission and treatment in Hong Kong (the ‘Conference’) and explores the pathways for reform in this area. A number of jurisdictions around the world are currently re-viewing their mental health laws, in part because of the requirements of international treaties that seek to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The challenge in the review and reform process is aligning local mental health needs, frameworks and traditions with overarching commitments to treat people with mental illness in ways that safeguard their control over their own treatment, reduce coercive interventions, and protect against arbitrary deprivations of liberty. In outlining four possible pathways for potential law reform in Hong Kong, we intend to also provide a blueprint for regulatory change in other jurisdictions that seek to draw a balance between local needs and international norms. The comparative value of this piece lies not in its direct applicability to other jurisdictions, but in its demonstration of how an exercise like this might be undertaken, and the kinds of considerations that should be taken into account when addressing relevant features of each of the four pathways in alternative local contexts.

     Our article proceeds as follows. Part II presents a brief overview of the mental health system and legal framework in Hong Kong. Part III considers Hong Kong's international commitments for the protection of human rights, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (‘ICCPR’) (which is incorporated into Hong Kong's do-mestic legal system) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (‘CRPD’), which has applied to Hong Kong since 2008. Part IV summarises the key local challenges that Hong Kong faces in any attempt at reform. We then set forth, in Part V, four dif-ferent strategies for reforming mental health law in Hong Kong: (i) theabolition pathway, (ii) the risk of harm pathway, (iii) the mental ca-pacity pathways, and (iv) the consensus pathway. Part VI provides abrief conclusion for the article... Click here to read the full article.

New Book: Criminal Law in Sri Lanka (Michael Hor and others) (LexisNexis)

Criminal Law in Sri Lanka

Wing-Cheong Chan, Michael Hor, Neil Morgan, Jeeva Niriella and Stanley Yeo

LexisNexis

Published in November 2019

Description: This book describes and evaluates the general principles of criminal responsibility and the major offences against the person and property contained in the Sri Lankan Penal Code. The aims are to assist in the application of the law and to provide suggestions for reform. To achieve these aims, it examines cases from other Penal Code jurisdictions as well as from Sri Lanka. There has not been a comprehensive study of the Sri Lankan Penal Code since Professor GL Peiris’ books were published nearly 40 years ago (General Principles of Criminal Liability in Ceylon: A Comparative Analysis (1st Edn, 1972; 2nd Edn, 1980) and Offences under the Penal Code of Ceylon (1st Edn, 1973; 2nd Edn, 1982)). Significant legislative and case law developments have occurred since that time. Much of the Penal Code has stood the test of time. However, given its antiquity, this commentary proposes significant reforms. They include the enactment of a ‘General Part’, with precise and comprehensive provisions reflecting contemporary views about criminal responsibility.

   Key Features:

• Comprehensive analysis of the general principles of criminal responsibility in Sri Lanka
• Analysis of the major offences against the person and property in light of the general principles of criminal responsibility
• Review of major relevant cases from Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore
• Placing the law in a historical and theoretical context pointing to its strengths and weaknesses, and suggesting potential reforms to bring the law into the 21st Century

Call for Papers: Limitations on Trademark Rights from Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives (HKU Law & Technology Centre)

Limitations on Trademark Rights from Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Call for Papers

Deadline for Abstract Submission: September 14, 2018

The Law and Technology Centre at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law and the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy at New York University School of Law will next year co-sponsor a conference on limitations on trademark rights. The conference will bring together scholars from around the world to explore the nature and scope of those limitations from comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives. The conference will be held at the University of Hong Kong on January 7-8, 2019.

      The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) sets no minimum standards for limitations on trademark rights, such as fair use and exhaustion. At the domestic level, the courts in various jurisdictions have adopted conflicting opinions on how to decide cases involving such limitations (e.g., nominative fair use). Comparative studies are therefore useful in understanding the differing legal standards for the limitations on trademark rights adopted in different jurisdictions. Moreover, conventional wisdom largely justifies trademark rights limitations from free speech or market competition perspectives, with other theoretical approaches such as social and cultural studies enjoying limited application in considering the nature and scope of those limitations. Against this backdrop, the conference organizers welcome submissions of papers developing new thoughts and theories on limitations on trademark rights by examining them through a comparative or interdisciplinary lens.

      The Rt. Hon. Professor Sir Robin Jacob will deliver the conference’s keynote speech, and a number of leading trademark scholars have already agreed to present papers. A limited number of presentation slots have also been reserved for scholars to be selected through this call for papers. Both senior and junior scholars are encouraged to submit abstracts of the papers they intend to present. Abstracts will be selected based on scholarly merit and originality.

      Please submit an abstract (no more than 300 words) to Ms. Grace Chan at mcgrace@hku.hk by September 14, 2018. The submission should also include your name, position, institutional affiliation and e-mail address.

      All applicants will be informed of the selection outcome by October 2, 2018. Financial support is available for scholars who experience difficulty obtaining a sufficient travel grant from their institution.

     All conference enquiries should be addressed to Ms. Grace Chan at the above e-mail address or at (+852) 3917-4727.

HKU Partners in Three Continent FinTech/RegTech Research Collaboration

International collaboration of law experts from three continents towards global FinTech and RegTech research

To support Hong Kong's aspirations of becoming a financial technology (FinTech) hub, Professor Douglas Arner from the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has joined forces with law professors from Europe and Australia to cooperate in researching the law and regulation of FinTech.

     Professor Arner will partner with Professor Dirk Zetzsche (ADA Chair in Financial Law/Inclusive Finance) at the University of Luxembourg and Professor Ross Buckley at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia to form an international law team based in three continents and three major global financial centres.

     The team, alongside other renowned researchers and FinTech regulators, will present their latest work at the third annual FinTech Conference organised by the University of Luxembourg's Research Unit in Law on 9 October 2017.

     Since embarking on their collaboration early this year, the three FinTech and regulatory technology (RegTech) experts, in cooperation with HKU PhD candidate Janos Barberis, founder of the SuperCharger FinTech Accelerator headquartered in Hong Kong, have produced four draft papers on the impact of big data on the financial system¹, the challenges of regulating FinTech², a theory of smart regulation that considers different regulatory tools and their role in enabling or restricting innovation³ as well as an analysis of liability risk and its impact on the use and set-up of blockchain⁴. Together, their works have been downloaded more than 27,000 times on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and they have published over 30 scholarly articles and book chapters in the past year.

     The financial centres of Luxembourg, Sydney and Hong Kong have been responding to rapid technological innovation and disruption recently. In Hong Kong, for example, the 2017 government's Policy Address pledged to establish the city as a hub for FinTech application and setting of standards for cutting-edge FinTech. Commenting on the cooperation, Professor Zetzsche (currently in the top 10% of the SSRN's top 3,000 law authors globally) said: "Smartly regulating financial innovation requires all stakeholders - the financial sector, start-ups, regulators and academics - to understand technology and law. Only global research is able to grasp the true speed and depth of these developments." He was supported in his assessment by Professor Arner (currently 7th of the SSRN's top 3,000 law authors globally): "Financial technology, through big data, artificial intelligence, regulatory technology, crowdfunding, smart contracts, etc. changes the fundamentals of our regulatory system. Only financial centres that adjust their regulatory environment will be able to maintain and develop further their relevance." The potential for FinTech is substantial, added Professor Buckley (9th of the SSRN's top 3,000 law authors globally): "FinTech can tackle issues of transaction, compliance and risk management costs. But these benefits can come at a price - exchanging human errors for risks stemming from information technology. A smart, analytical approach is needed and this is where academic research can make a fundamental difference."

     The team's global FinTech and RegTech research cooperation is supported by three funding bodies: Luxembourg's National Research Fund contributed to an Intermobility Programme "Smart Regulation - Towards a New Law for FinTech", the Australian Research Council funding of the project "Regulating a Revolution: A New Regulatory Model for Digital Finance" and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council Theme-based Research Scheme providing financial support for "Enhancing Hong Kong's Future as a Leading International Financial Centre". The FNR's Intermobility Programme allowed Professor Zetzsche to spend three months at UNSW Sydney, where the cooperation was formalised.

Notes

¹ See Zetzsche, Buckley, Arner, Barberis, "From FinTech to TechFin: The Regulatory Challenges of Data-Driven Finance," available online https://ssrn.com/abstract=2959925, forthcoming New York University Journal of Law & Business (2018).

² Arner, Zetzsche, Buckley, Barberis, "FinTech and RegTech: Enabling Innovation while Preserving Financial Stability", forthcoming Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (2018).

³ Zetzsche, Buckley, Arner, Barberis, "Regulating a Revolution: From Regulatory Sandboxes to Smart Regulation", available online https://ssrn.com/abstract=3018534.

⁴ Zetzsche, Buckley, Arner, "The Distributed liability of Distributed Ledgers: Legal Risks of Blockchain", available online https://ssrn.com/abstract=3018214.

Media enquiry

Ms Rhea Leung, Communications and Public Affairs Office, The University of Hong Kong (Tel: +852 2857 8555; Email: rhea.leung@hku.hk; Website: www.hku.hk )

Ms Laura Bianchi, Communications Department, University of Luxembourg (Tel +352 46 66 44 9551;

M +352 621 547 950; Email: laura.bianchi@uni.lu; Website: www.uni.lu )

Ms Clare Morgan, Media Office, UNSW SYDNEY (Tel +61 (2) 9385 8920; Email: clare.morgan@unsw.edu.au; Website: law.unsw.edu.au )

For the online press release, click here.

Li Yahong Partners in HK$1.44M ARC Project on Digital China

The Australian Research Council has awarded a HK$1.44M Discovery Project to Professor Michael Keane of Curtin University of Technology for the inter-disciplinary project "Digital China: from cultural presence to innovative nation". The project investigates how digital platforms and technologies are enabling Chinese culture and ideas to reach the world. It argues that while China's global cultural presence has increased it is yet to be seen as an innovative nation. The project examines how the Chinese government’s internet+ strategy is changing power dynamics among political institutions, commercially motivated digital companies, and online communities. Through investigating internationalisation strategies and consumption of Chinese culture on digital platforms in China, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea the project contributes to understanding the implications of China's digital ascendency and the lessons for Australia in the post-resources boom era.  Li Yahong is a partner investigator to this project which involves institutions from Australia, Hong Kong and Mainland China.  The project will run for five years starting from 2017.

HKU Law Hosts Journal of Financial Regulation 2016 Annual Conference (24-25 June)

Integration and Interconnectedness in Global Finance

Journal of Financial Regulation 2016 Annual Conference

Jointly organized with Asian Institute of International Financial Law, University of Hong Kong Centre for Banking and Finance Law, National University of Singapore Centre for Cross-Border Commercial Law in Asia, Singapore Management University Faculty of Law, Chinese University of Hong Kong Institute of Comparative Law, University of Paris 2 Pantheon Assas School of Law, City University of Hong Kong and RGC Theme-based Research Scheme Project: “Enhancing Hong Kong’s Future as a Leading International Financial Centre”

24 – 25 June 2016 (Friday and Saturday)

Academic Conference Room, 11/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower

Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong

This conference will seek to explore a broad range of topics on “Integration and Interconnectedness in Global Finance” including, but not limited to: 

• emerging risks to financial stability stemming from increasing integration and interconnectedness, particularly in Europe, Asia, and emerging markets; 
• the evolving role of international financial institutions, in particular the International Monetary Fund as international lenders of last resort; 
• the development, role, and effectiveness of regional institutions such as the European Systemic Risk Board, European Banking Union, and ASEAN in promoting financial stability; 
• the role of the Financial Stability Board, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, and other international institutions in designing frameworks and promoting regulatory reform with the objective of promoting global financial stability; 
• the potential role, influence and political importance of the newly created Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank; 
• the potential impact of the internationalization of the Renminbi; 
• how national authorities are approaching the challenges created by increasing integration and interconnectedness; and 
• the nature and structure of cooperation between national authorities responsible for financial regulation. 

Click here to access the draft programme. If you are interested to attend, please register online or via www.AIIFL.com to reserve a place. Enquiry: Flora Leung at fkleung@hku.hk.

Second HKU-Vienna Workshop on IP and Prosumerism (Report)

Second HKU-Vienna Joint Workshop on Intellectual Property and Prosumerism

Following the success of the first joint workshop at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna) on 8 March 2016, the second joint workshop on IP and Prosumerism was held at HKU on 6 May 2016. The workshop invited officials of the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department (HKIPD), Miss S.K. Lee and Jasmine Kun, to provide an overview of Hong Kong’s proposed copyright law amendment, which was followed by a roundtable discussion on prosumerism and Hong Kong copyright law, moderated by Professor Martin Winner of WU Vienna, and participated by Dr. Frank Wan, Mr. Geoffrey Lau and Mr. Ronald Yu. The second part of the workshop consisted of four excellent presentations by Dr. Jyh-An Lee (CUHK), Dr. Clemens Appl (WU Vienna), Dr. Wenwei Guan (CityU), and Mr. Stefan Holzweber (Wu Vienna) on the topics of Copyright Divisibility and the Anti-Commons, Multi-Authoring in User Innovation, Antitrust Enforcement of SEP’s FRAND Terms in TRIPS Context, and A Competition Law Perspective on Prosumerism, respectively, and were thoroughly commented by, inter alia, Dr. Haochen Sun (HKU) and Mr. Kelvin Kwok (HKU). The papers of the two workshops will be edited for publication in the near future. Written by Dr Li Yahong, co-organizer of the workshops.

Li Yahong Speaks in Vienna at "Prosumerism and Intellectual Property" Collaborative Workshop

On 8 March 2016, Dr. Yahong Li presented “User Generated Content (UGC) from International and Chinese Perspective” in the Joint Research Workshop on “Prosumerism and IP” at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. In her presentation, she introduced the characteristics and economic value of UGC, the current international trend of UGC protection, and the development, models, and features of UGC in China. She then discussed the relationship between UGC and copyright, and argued that UGC deserves better protection as it has created important economic values while being unfairly exploited by the powerful social media and Internet giants. She advocates giving a proper legal status to UGC, not only fair use defense. 

     The joint workshop is a part of the joint research project “Prosumerism and IP” which is undertaken by the IT/IP-Law Group of Vienna University of Economics and Business, and sponsored by the Austrian government under its EURASIA PACIFIC UNINET funding scheme, to which Dr. Yahong Li was invited as a co-investigator. This first joint workshop invited about 15 speakers, discussing the relationship between prosumerism and 3D-printing, moral rights and UGC. The second joint workshop is planned to be held at HKU Faculty of Law on 6 May 2016, and will cover similar topics.

Report on the Hong Kong-Singapore Law Schools Conference 2016

Dean Hor welcoming participants.

The HKU-NUS-SMU Conference was held on 22 and 23 February 2016 at the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong. Participants from the Law Faculties of the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Management University joined Faculty members from the University of Hong Kong for two days of fruitful presentations and discussions. Colleagues from the Law Faculties of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong were also invited to participate. 

     Panels covered a wide range of topics, including International Law, Economic Regulation, Intellectual Property, Private Law, Corporate Law, Public Law, Dispute Resolution, Chinese Law, Criminal Law and Evidence.

     This conference enabled the Faculty members from all participating universities to meet and explore the possibility of future collaborations, as well as to engage in interesting and enjoyable legal discussions.  Report written by conference organizer Ji Lian Yap.

3rd Urban Law Conference (Call for Papers - 29 JUN 2016)

3rd ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL & 

COMPARATIVE URBAN LAW CONFERENCE

Call for Conference Participants

29 June 2016, Hong Kong

The Fordham Urban Law Center, in conjunction with the University of Hong Kong (HKU), is pleased to announce a call for participation in the 3rd Annual International and Comparative Urban Law Conference, to be held on Wednesday, June 29, 2016. The all-day Conference will be held at HKU in Pokfulam, Hong Kong.

TOPICS: The Conference will provide a dynamic forum for legal and other scholars to engage and generate diverse international, comparative, and interdisciplinary perspectives in the burgeoning field of urban law. The Conference will explore overlapping themes, tensions, and opportunities for deeper scholarly investigation and practice with a comparative perspective. The Conference is open to urban law topics across a broad spectrum, such as:

• Structure and workings of local authority and autonomy
• Urban and metropolitan governance and finance
• Economic and community development
• Housing and the built environment
• Urban public health
• Migration and citizenship
• Urban equity and inclusion
• Sustainability

The goal of the Conference is to facilitate an in-depth engagement across sub-specialties within the legal academy to help deepen our understanding of urban law in the twenty-first century.

PROPOSAL PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Potential participants in Conference panels should submit a proposal (maximum 500 words) to Nisha Mistry, Director, Fordham Urban Law Center, at urbanlaw@law.fordham.edu. Please put "[name of proposed paper]" in the subject line of your email. If you have a draft paper, please include it with your proposal. Participants do not need to have prepared a formal paper in order to join the program. Please indicate the extent of your funding needs. Due to limited funds, the Center can only award a few partial travel grants for this Conference. Deadline for proposal submissions: January 18, 2016.

PUBLICATION: In 2016, the Urban Law Center will publish two volumes of a multi-year book series compiling cross-cutting global perspectives on law and urbanism, with a core focus on comparative enquiry. This Conference will serve as the basis for the next volume in this series, which will be published by Ashgate (as part of Juris Diversitas), following customary review and selection processes. If you are interested in potential publication, please indicate this interest at the time of your proposal submission.

ABOUT THE URBAN LAW CENTER: The Urban Law Center at Fordham Law School in New York City is committed to investigating the role of the law and legal systems in contemporary urbanism through scholarship, pedagogy, programming, and applied research partnerships. Please visit http://law.fordham.edu/urbanlawcenter.htm for more details about the Center.

ABOUT HKU: The University of Hong Kong is the oldest institution of higher education in the city. As Hong Kong settles into the "one country, two systems" model, the Centre for Chinese Law in HKU is in a prime position to develop an international approach to legal issues facing the governance of a metropolitan center.

FURTHER INFORMATION: Please visit http://www.hku.hk for more details about HKU.

Report on Third Hong Kong Children's Issues Forum (Collaborative KE Project)

COLLABORATIVE KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE: THIRD CHILDREN’S ISSUES FORUM

On November 13 and 14 the HKU Faculty of Law co-hosted the Third Children’s Issues Forum in collaboration with the Chinese University Faculty of Law, the Hong Kong Family Law Association, and the Law Society of Hong Kong (with support from the Hong Kong Bar Association). The purpose of this Forum (and the previous two) was to highlight the legal and related issues affecting children in Hong Kong and globally and to advocate for multidisciplinary reform of the law and policy on children and family justice generally. After a welcome from the Deans of the CUHK and HKU Law Faculties, Prof. Chris Gane and Prof. Michael Hor, The Hon. Chief Justice Mr. Geoffrey Ma Tao-li opened the Forum noting the importance of protecting the best interests of children, and the role of law in doing so, especially as they are often amongst the most vulnerable in our society.

     During the course of the Third Forum held at CUHK, a packed conference hall heard over 40 speakers address child related topics as diverse as child custody, the Family Court’s innovative Children Dispute Resolution procedure, perspectives on representing children in legal proceedings, frontline workers’ experiences of addressing children’s issues and the need for accurate and sustained data collection to inform the creation and implementation of effective policies on children’s issues.

     Speakers from Hong Kong included members of the Judiciary, barristers and solicitors, medical professionals, academics and also social workers, therapists and representatives from NGOs. Importantly for a conference on children’s issues, young people form Kids’ Dream, one of the first children-led NGOs in Hong Kong, also took part in various panels during the Forum. 

     Speakers from overseas included senior judiciary from England, Australia, Singapore, Macau and Canada; lawyers from the UK and the PRC; academics from Japan, Singapore, Norway and Israel; and the Asia regional representative of UNICEF. For more information on the programme and speakers, please go to www.cifhk.org.

     During the first panel of the Forum, the Secretary for Labour & Welfare, Mr. Matthew Cheung GBS JP announced - for the first time in public - the imminent publication of the long awaited Children’s Bill and the government’s commitment to set aside resources to ensure the successful implementation of the practical infrastructure necessary to support the legislative changes, for example, supervised contact centres. Mr. Cheung confirmed that the Children’s Bill will be released by the end of November. This reform is something which has been discussed and advocated at the previous two Children’s Issues Forums in 2009 and 2012 and so we were delighted that the Secretary chose to make this announcement at the Third Children’s Issues Forum in the presence of the HK media.

     We look forward now to receiving the Children’s Bill and to continuing the progress towards legislative and practical reforms, particularly the creation of a Children’s Commission, to ensure that Hong Kong children have the best child law possible.  Written by Katherine Lynch.