Kelley Loper Interviewed on Prejudices Against Ethic Minorities (SCMP)

"Is Hong Kong racist? Prejudice against ethnic minorities, especially Africans, undermines city’s claim to be truly international"

Mandy Zheng and Rachel Leung

South China Morning Post
21 July 2018
 With the weight of the world on her shoulders, Camy Lok Mei-ching takes a deep breath and strides into a rural committee meeting. About 10 people turn to face her. She recognises lawmakers, government officials and the residents of Shek Wu Tong Village in Yuen Long district.

     Lok is president of the Hong Kong African Association which she hopes will be allowed to convert an abandoned school in their village into an activity centre.

     Despite approval by the Town Planning Board, Lok’s plan faces strong opposition from villagers. Over the past months, various protests were launched, with residents citing security concerns and accusing African people in the community of being “more likely to be criminals”.

     Lok, in her 50s, is married to 45-year-old Nigerian, Ezeakunne Sylvester, and has been leading a lonely battle against what she says is a clear-cut case of racial discrimination – part of a long-standing yet often neglected problem in Hong Kong.

...

     Kelley Loper, associate professor and director of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the University of Hong Kong’s faculty of law, calls the events in the Yuen Long village a “worrying development”.

     She says: “The case highlights a clear need for much greater efforts to educate the public and promptly address racist attitudes.“Blocking the establishment of the activity centre is likely to violate the Race Discrimination Ordinance which prohibits direct and indirect racial discrimination in the provision of facilities, goods and services.”

     Loper calls for the government and Equal Opportunities Commission to investigate the matter. “Views that racial minorities are more likely to engage in ‘criminal’ activity perpetuates negative, discriminatory stereotypes about minority communities in Hong Kong and are not based on fact.”... 

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Africa Journal of Comparative Constitutional Law and the Recovery of Corruption Proceeds in Kenya

Congratulations to Dr Tom Kabau (PhD 2013) and his two fellow co-editors on the publication of the inaugural issue of the Africa Journal of Comparative Constitutional Law published by Juta Law of South Africa.  News of this inaugural issue was published on the I-CONnect Blog.  Members of the international advisory board include Shahla Ali and Yash Ghai.  Dr Kabau contributed an article on the recovery of corruption assets in Kenya, in which he drew upon the experiences of Hong Kong and Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency the Independent Commission Against Corruption.  The details of his article are as follows:

"Constitutional dilemmas in the recovery of corruptly acquired assets in Kenya: Strengthening judicial assault on corruption"

Tom Kabau

Africa Journal of Comparative Constitutional Law

2016, Issue 1, pp 23-57

Abstract: Despite widespread incidences of corruption in Kenya, obtaining evidence for the prosecution of offences relating to the vice is highly problematic. As a response to such challenges, the possession of unexplained assets, which is categorised as illicit enrichment in international legal instruments, creates a presumption of corrupt conduct by virtue of section 55 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (ACECA). On that basis, ACECA shifts the burden of proof to the subject person, requiring him to demonstrate that the property was obtained lawfully. Whilst section 55 of ACECA provides that such court proceedings are of a civil nature, their linkage with criminal prosecution is extremely high, a fact that Kenyan courts seem to take into account while interpreting the scope of the right to a fair trial in such cases. 

     Unexplained assets recovery proceedings are often challenged in court on allegations of violation of the constitutional right to a fair trial, especially the presumption of innocence, and the right against self-incrimination, which are categorised as absolute entitlement under the Constitution. However, widespread corruption erodes accountability, undermines the rule of law and, therefore, establishes conditions in which even the right to a fair trial cannot be realised. It is on that basis that the article posits the view that courts should interpret the reversal of burden of proof in unexplained assets recovery proceedings, and the utilisation of the evidence obtained in subsequent criminal prosecution for corruption, as operating within the parameters of the right to a fair trial. Such an interpretative approach may facilitate institutionalisation of accountability in public institutions, including in the Judiciary, and therefore guarantee all Kenyans the right to a fair trial.