HKU Legal Scholarship Blog: Darcy Davison-Roberts

Abstract: This paper critically examines Hong Kong’s continuous contract requirement under the Employment Ordinance (Cap 57), which conditions eligibility for employment benefits and protections on meeting prescribed minimum hours over a four-week period. This threshold, known as the 4–18 Rule, requires at least 18 hours of work per week for the same employer over four consecutive weeks. In June 2025, the Legislative Council enacted the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, which replaced the 4–18 Rule with a dual threshold from 18 January 2026. Under the amendment, employees may qualify as being continuously employed by either working 17 hours of work per week over consecutive four weeks or a cumulative total of 68 hours within the same period (the 4–17–68 Rule). Drawing on qualitative legal analysis and empirical data, this paper argues that the 4–18 Rule creates a situation of employment precarity, disproportionately affects women, and facilitates employer-driven scheduling strategies that exclude workers from key statutory protections and benefits. Judicial interpretation remains constrained, with courts unable to remedy employer avoidance in the absence of statutory reform. This paper further argues that the 4–17–68 Rule reform constitutes only a numerical adjustment and fails to address the structural, legal, and institutional roots of exclusion that characterise the 4–18 Rule. Drawing on international models, particularly from Singapore, Australia, and the UK, the paper advocates for substantive legislative amendments, including anti-avoidance provisions and a proportional entitlement system. Without these, the revised 4–17–68 Rule will preserve, rather than remedy, systemic precarity and gender inequality in statutory employment benefits and protections.

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Darcy Lynn Davison-Roberts on RTHK Agender Café (a Media KE event) to discuss the Report by TALK on child sex abuse in Hong Kong (KE)

Introduction: Darcy Lynn Davison-Roberts was involved in the research and publication of the report by TALK on child sex abuse in Hong Kong. Consequently, Taura (the founder of TALK) and Darcy Lynn Davison-Roberts were on RTHK Agender Café (podcast) in November 2022 to discuss the report. To view the RTHK session on Facebook, click here.

New Report Sheds Light on Child Sexual Abuse in Hong Kong:
Understanding the Magnitude and Impact of the Problem

Child sexual abuse is a serious and pervasive problem that affects children of all ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Unfortunately, despite its prevalence, child sexual abuse is often underreported and misunderstood. In an effort to better understand the magnitude of this issue in Hong Kong, a new report has been released that brings together recent data and trends from surveys and official departments and bureaus records.

The report, entitled "Child Sexual Abuse in Hong Kong: What We Do and Do Not Know," was produced by TALK Hong Kong, a volunteer peer-led group of women/femme survivors of sexual abuse and assault founded in Hong Kong in 2019. TALK provides support group meetings and undertakes advocacy work on related issues, believing that to tackle child sexual abuse we must understand its causes, scope, scale, and impact. The organization's purpose is to collate the evidence on child sexual abuse in Hong Kong into a single report that can inform the development of prevention efforts.

This report was produced without any funding and with the pro bono support of, amongst others, Darcy Lynn Davison-Roberts, Senior Lecturer at The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law & TALK Hong Kong Advisory Network.

The report highlights the lack of comprehensive and accurate data on child sexual abuse in Hong Kong, which is a barrier to understanding the true extent of the problem and developing effective prevention strategies. However, the report's authors hope that by bringing together the available data and trends, they can make a meaningful contribution to the conversation around child sexual abuse in Hong Kong. They also intend to make this an annual report, to be updated on regular basis and in this way, provide a clearer picture of the situation.

This inaugural report serves as an important resource for anyone working to understand and address child sexual abuse in Hong Kong. It provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge on the issue and highlights areas where further research is needed. By working together and sharing information, we can hope to make progress in preventing child sexual abuse and providing support to those who have been affected by it.

Taura Edgar, the founder of TALK Hong Kong and Darcy Davison-Roberts, appeared on RTHK’s Agender Café, where they shared results of the report and the work they've been doing to help bring the issue of child sexual abuse out of the darkness, by providing valuable insights and perspectives on the problem of child sexual abuse in Hong Kong, and discussed the various ways in which individuals and organizations can take action to prevent abuse and support survivors.
To view the report, click here.

To view the RTHK interview, click here.

Darcy Lynn Davison-Roberts: "A HANDBOOK FOR PRACTITIONERS | HONG KONG" (chapter in Civil Liability for Human Rights Violations: A Handbook for Practitioners, KE)

"A HANDBOOK FOR PRACTITIONERS | HONG KONG"
by Darcy Lynn Davison-Roberts, Senior Lecturer,
Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong
in
Civil Liability for Human Rights Violations:
A Handbook for Practitioners
pp.1-38 (online version of the Hong Kong Chapter)

The Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford, led a project on civil liability for human rights violations from 2019 to 2022. Funded by the Oak Foundation, the project involved a comparative study of the legal systems of a wide range of jurisdictions to analyze existing domestic law mechanisms or principles for imposing civil liability on public bodies, corporations, and individuals in three specified categories of human rights violations: (1) assault or unlawful arrest and detention of persons, (2) environmental harm, and (3) harmful or unfair labor conditions.

One of the project’s outcomes is a Handbook for Practitioners. The handbook is intended to serve as a practical resource for understanding when and how civil claims can be used as a tool to vindicate human rights in 19 jurisdictions. The country report for Hong Kong SAR was authored by Darcy Davison-Roberts, Senior Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Law.

Designed for practitioners, the handbook allows readers to refer directly to a specific jurisdiction, with each report following a uniform template. The Editor's Introduction explains the handbook's scope and provides comparative insights drawn from the reports.

The handbook can be downloaded as one complete PDF file or as individual country reports and the Editor's Introduction as separate PDF files. This resource serves as a comprehensive guide for legal professionals and human rights advocates looking to understand and utilize civil liability mechanisms for human rights violations in different countries.

Abstract of the Hong Kong Chapter: Hong Kong is a special administrative region that exists as part of the People’s Republic of China under the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle. Until 2047, the legal system of Hong Kong is one of common law inherited from the British colonial government. The judge-decided case law is augmented through ordinances enacted by the Legislative Council. The Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance are the primary statutory sources of fundamental human rights in Hong Kong, but they apply to and bind only public bodies. Civil claims against private actors are commenced based on the common law of torts and statutory remedies.

Introduction of the Hong Kong Chapter:

1. The legal system of Hong Kong is one of common law, inherited from the British colonial government that governed Hong Kong as a crown colony from 1842 to 1997. Upon the resumption of sovereignty of Hong Kong by the People’s Republic of China in 1997, and under the principle of 'One Country, Two Systems' (1C2S), Hong Kong was designated as a ‘special administrative region’ of the People’s Republic of China and was to enjoy a ‘high degree of autonomy’. Fundamental to the 1C2S principle was the promise that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was to retain its governmental, political and economic systems for 50 years, ending in 2047. This means that the systems implemented by the British colonial government, including the common law legal system, the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and a tradition of protecting human rights, are to remain untouched during this period. Furthermore, all laws in force in Hong Kong at the time of the Handover are to remain in force in the post-Handover period, being the common law, rules of equity, ordinances, subordinate legislation and customary law, with limited exceptions.

2. While the HKSAR is a common law jurisdiction, the common law, comprised primarily of judge-decided case law, is augmented by way of ordinances (legislative instruments) that are enacted by the HKSAR Legislative Council (LegCo). The Special Administrative Region’s ordinances and subordinate legislation can be accessed through a bilingual, free and searchable database. Additional sources of law in the HKSAR include national law of the People’s Republic, the Basic Law (which is the HKSAR’s constituting document) and interpretations of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China (NPCSC), customary law and international law.

3. The HKSAR has an independent judiciary ...

Monday, October 11, 2021

HKU Law Awarded Five KE Impact Projects 2021/2022

The University of Hong Kong's Knowledge Exchange (KE) Funding Scheme for Impact Projects supports projects that have the potential to create social, economic, environmental or cultural impacts for industry, business or the community by building on expertise or knowledge in the University and projects designed to collect evidence for corroboration and evaluation of impacts. Engagement projects that aim to benefit non-academic communities beyond Hong Kong are strongly encouraged.

Five projects are supported under the KE Impact Project Grant Scheme in the 2021/22 with an exceptional outstanding case being awarded with the maximum funding amount of HK$150,000. Congratulations to :

Ms Amanda Whitfort "Wildlife Crime: Knowledge Transfer for Informed Sentencing in Greater China". This ongoing interdisciplinary project involves a collaboration between Associate Professor Amanda Whitfort, Faculty of Law, Dr Caroline Dingle, School of Biological Sciences and Dr Gary Ades, Head of Fauna, Kadoorie Farm and Botanical Garden, in producing species victim impact statements, showing the impact of wildlife crime on endangered species. These statements aid the Agricultural Fisheries and Conservation Department, Customs and Excise Department and the Department of Justice (Hong Kong) and Forestry police and prosecutors in the PRC to effectively prosecute wildlife crimes, and assist the judiciary in Hong Kong to deter, through effective sentencing, wildlife offences against Hong Kong legislation.

Ms Isabella Wenting Liu and Ms Stephanie Biedermann “Understanding Rule of Law for Secondary School Students”. The project aims at enhancing Hong Kong secondary school students’ understanding of the rule of law and its crucial role as the foundation of Hong Kong’s success and institutions. HKU law students will develop teaching plans on different rule of law topics and deliver legal talks at secondary schools. This project provides a platform for HKU students and secondary schools to form connections and develop a forum for discussion on foundational legal concepts. Teaching materials will be made accessible to the wider community through the ROLE website (www.role.hku.hk).

Ms Darcy Lynn Davison-Roberts “Employment & Labour Claims Knowledge Hub”. In partnership with LITE Lab@HKU, A2J and HKWWA, this project seeks to implement the Hub; a technology-based caselaw databank for use by the primary beneficiary HKWWA. The Hub will provide the means by which HKWWA can collect, collate and analyse labour and employment caselaw and in turn facilitate their mission of promoting and improving women workers’ interests and status in Hong Kong through their advocacy work. Once established, the project intends to make the Hub open-sourced and available to other NGOs. This project aims to achieve greater transparency in the judicial decision-making process and to increase access to justice for grassroots, female workers in respect of their labour and employment law issues in Hong Kong.

Ms Darcy Lynn Davison-Roberts “Legal Advice Programme for Grassroots Women Workers”. This project aims to address the lack of employment and labour law expertise and legal resources available to the grassroots women workers served by the primary beneficiary, the Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association (“HKWWA”). By conducting a needs and capacity assessment, the project will first seek to understand what HKWWA, and its clients identify as their existing and future legal needs and what legal knowledge and resources exist within HKWWA. Following this preliminary analysis, the project will revise and expand upon HKWWA’s existing legal case handling practices and knowledge base and design and implement a bespoke monthly community legal advice programme similar to those utilised by other Hong Kong NGOs.

Dr Richard Wai Seng Wu “Building Better Lawyers in China and Australia in the Post-Covid-19 Era Through Strengthening Their Capabilities in Innovation, Creativity and Ethics with Experiential Learning”. This interdisciplinary project aims to build better lawyers in China and Australia by strengthening their capabilities in innovation, creativity and ethics in the post-Covid-19 era. Cutting-edge knowledge in these areas will be delivered through webinars to lawyers in these two countries by academics from HKU, UC Berkeley, Melbourne University and Birmingham University, as well as law firm partners, legal counsel and legal technologist who have local experience in China and Australia. This project seeks to create social impact by raising Chinese and Australian lawyers’ awareness of the importance of innovation, creativity and ethics for globalized legal practice in post-Covid-19 era.