RGC Awards $5 Million in Research Funding to HKU Law 2026/27

Congratulations to our eight colleagues who were successful in the 2026-2027 round of research grant funding by Hong Kong's Research Grants Council (RGC). Seven General Research Fund (GRF) projects were funded to evaluate the Infrastructure Consultation in the Asia Pacific; to explore Human-AI Interaction in Legal Processes; to regulate Donation-Based Crowdfunding Platforms in China; to assess how can AI help Debt Mediation; to analyse Damage in Hong Kong's Law of Negligence; to examine the role of corporate law in advancing ESG in China; to evaluate the structured issues of FILs and identifying ways to minimize FILs’ impact on citizens’ rights. One Early Career Scheme (ECS) project was funded to evaluate the Necessity and Feasibility of a Sentencing Council in Hong Kong. The details of the new funded projects are as follows:

GRF:
Professor Shahla Ali
Infrastructure Consultation in the Asia Pacific, HK$827,180

Professor Benjamin Chen
Artificially Enhanced Justice: An Exploration of Human-AI Interaction in Legal Processes, HK$777,600

Professor Hui Jing
Regulating Donation-Based Crowdfunding Platforms in China: Challenges and Future Directions, HK$633,900

Professor John Liu
Can Artificial Intelligence Help Debt Mediation? A Field Experiment, HK$650,000

Professor Craig Purshouse
Damage in Hong Kong's Law of Negligence, HK$147,500

Professor James Zeng
Corporate Law and ESG in China, HK$816,000

Dr. Han Zhu
Rule of Law or Rule of Values? A Critical Comparative Analysis of Foreign Influence Laws, HK$549,240

ECS:
Professor Florence Lee
Evaluating the Necessity and Feasibility of a Sentencing Council in Hong Kong: Lessons from Comparative Perspectives, HK$599,984

RGC Awards $3.5 Million in Research Funding to HKU Law 2025/26

Congratulations to our five colleagues who were successful in the 2025-2026 round of research grant funding by Hong Kong's Research Grants Council (RGC). The three General Research Fund (GRF) projects that were funded cover a range of topics, from examining the impact of “revolving-door” judges in the Chinese judicial system to investigating China’s efforts to reshape public interest lawyering to exploring the relationship between China’s legal system, financial markets, and economic development. Two Early Career Scheme (ECS) project were funded to study the Integration of China's Patent System and Social Credit System, and introduction of statutory recognition of same-sex couples in Hong Kong. The details of the new funded projects are as follows:

GRF:
Professor John Liu
The Revolving Door in the Chinese Judiciary and Its Economic Consequences: A Quantitative Study, HK$1,064,000

Professor Ying Xia
Nationalizing Legal Mobilization: The Transformation of Public Interest Lawyering under Xi Jinping, HK$679,000

Professor James Zeng
China's Path of Law and Finance, HK$746,000

ECS:
Professor Taorui Guan
Big Data-Driven Governance: A Study on the Integration of China's Patent System and Social Credit System, HK$630,925

Professor Stefano Osella
Recognising Same-sex Partnerships in Hong Kong: Constitutional and Human Rights Perspectives, HK$406,816

RGC Awards $4.6 Million in Research Funding to HKU Law 2024/25

Congratulations to our seven colleagues who were successful in the 2024-2025 round of research grant funding by Hong Kong's Research Grants Council (RGC). The seven General Research Fund (GRF) projects that were funded cover a wide range of topics, from China’s plea leniency system to the work conditions of early-career lawyers in China to the problem of animal rescue hoarding in Hong Kong. The details of the new funded projects are as follows:

GRF:

Professor Cora Chan

Liberal Regions in Illiberal States, HK$527,490

Professor Xin He

Appeals and Inequalities in China’s Plea Leniency System, HK$1,040,000

Professor Sida Liu

The Work Conditions of Early-Career Lawyers in China, HK$840,000

Professor John Zhuang Liu

The Rise and Limits of the Chinese Judiciary: Administrative Litigation in China during the Reform Period, HK$716,000

Professor Ryan Whalen

Artificial Intelligence in the Administration of the Patent System, HK$366,626

Professor Michael Ng

Judicial Independence on Trial: Archival study of political interference with the colonial Hong Kong courts (1842-1997), HK$742,000

Professor Amanda Whitfort

Responding to Animal Rescue Hoarding in Hong Kong: A Comparative and Empirical Review, HK$407,644

RGC Awards $4.8 Million in Research Funding to HKU Law 2023/24

Congratulations to our eight colleagues who were successful in the 2023-2024 round of research grant funding by Hong Kong's Research Grants Council (RGC). Six General Research Fund (GRF) projects were funded to study the abuse of dominance in the digital age; to examine the reformation of administrative law for the coming age of algorithmic government in Hong Kong; to evaluate the process of transnational law-making and its boundaries in trust and succession planning in Hong Kong and Singapore; to conduct field experiments of using cameras in Chinese trials; to study the implications for enhanced intellectual property protection in China through the Chinese music streaming market; to explore possible changes and impacts on the Hong Kong tax system after the social unrest, COVID-19 and PRC factor. Two Early Career Scheme (ECS) project were funded to study political crowdfunding in authoritarian regimes and to conduct a comparative study (Hong Kong, Australia, and England) of trustees’ discretionary powers in express private trusts and their possible control. The details of the new funded projects are as follows:

GRF:

Professor Thomas Cheng

Abuse of Dominance in the Digital Age, HK$664,340

Professor Eric C. Ip

Judging the Automated State: The Reformation of Administrative Law for the Coming Age of Algorithmic Government in Hong Kong under Chinese Sovereignty, HK$457,140

Ms. Rebecca Lee

Trust and succession planning in Hong Kong and Singapore: a critical evaluation of the process of transnational law-making and its boundaries, HK$405,800

Dr John Zhuang Liu

Cameras in the Courtroom: Field Experiments in Real Trials, HK$848,000

Professor Haochen Sun

The Rise of the Chinese Music Streaming Market: Implications for Enhanced Intellectual Property Protection in China, HK$608,400

Mr. Wilson Chow

Hong Kong tax system: New Era! New Wine in New Bottle?, HK$850,000

ECS:
Dr Julius Yam
Political Crowdfunding in Authoritarian Regimes, HK$570,000

Dr Hui Jing

Controlling Trustees’ Discretionary Powers in Express Private Trusts: A Comparative Study of Hong Kong, Australia, and England, HK$473,000

RGC Awards $5.96 Million in Research Funding to HKU Law 2021/22

Congratulations to our 9 colleagues who were successful in the 2021-2022 round of research grant funding by Hong Kong's Research Grants Council (RGC). Eight General Research Fund (GRF) projects were funded to study the development of investor dispute prevention mechanisms in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, the concept of “best interests” for the purpose of decision-making on behalf of individuals lacking mental capacity in Chinese jurisdictions, the role of peace movements in the 1899 creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the proliferation of International Commercial Courts across the globe, modern legal education reforms undertaken by three East Asian countries—Japan, Korea and China—meant to improve their legal professions by emphasizing postgraduate legal education, neighborhood governance in urban China, the emerging phenomenon of self-governance in the digital economy in China, and a medieval legal bestseller, the 'Statuta Vetera' Manuscript, c. 1280-1520.  An Early Career Scheme (ECS) project was funded to study the receptivity of socialist legal systems to the common law notion of precedent. 

    The details of the new funded projects are as follows:

GRF:

Professor Shahla Ali 

Is an Ounce of Prevention Worth a Pound of Cure? Assessing the Development of Dispute Prevention Mechanisms along the Belt and Road, HK$780,059

Ms Daisy Cheung

Deciding what is best for you: Best interest determinations on behalf of persons without capacity in the Chinese context, HK$443,426

Dr James Fry

The Role of Peace Movements in the 1899 Creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, HK$291,904

Dr Weixia Gu

The Global Rise of the International Commercial Courts: Power Dynamics and Transnational Legal Order, HK644,385

Dr Jed Kroncke

The Modern Re-Engineering of East Asian Lawyers, HK$540,881

Professor Shitong Qiao

The Authoritarian Commons: The Co-Evolution of Law and Social Norms in China's Urban Residential Neighborhoods, HK$1,255,474

Dr Angela Zhang

Decentralizing Platform Governance: Innovations from China, HK$656,825

Dr Anya Adair (cross appointed with Faculty of Arts)

The 'Statuta Vetera' Manuscript, c. 1280-1520: Production and Use of a Medieval Legal Bestseller, HK$599,209

ECS:

Dr Ben Chen, 

The Socialist Reception of Precedent: A Computational Analysis of Guiding Cases in the People’s Republic of China, HK$746,320

RGC Awards $4 Million in Research Grant Funding to HKU Faculty of Law

The Research Grants Council awarded more than $4 million in funding to seven of the Faculty of Law's General Research Fund projects 2016-2017.  The projects cover a wide range of topics: director and shareholder accountability, competition law, cyberbullying and privacy, med-arb in China, trusts for mentally incapacitated persons, personal injury compensation reform, and regulation of trade in endangered wild animals.  Congratulations to the following colleagues:

• Ernest Lim, Rethinking Directorial and Shareholder Accountability, $352,500.
• Kelvin Kwok (with Thomas Cheng as Co-I), Buyer Power under Competition Law: A Theoretical Examination and a Case Study of Hong Kong, $508,496.
• Anne Cheung, Tackling Cyberbullying by Enhancing Privacy Protection: A Comparative and an Interdisciplinary Study, $1,072,190.
• Gu Weixia (with Anselmo Reyes as Co-I), When Local Meets International: The Delicate Art of Med-Arb in China and Its Prospective Reform in a Comparative Context in Asia, $460,000.
• Rebecca Lee (with Lusina Ho as Co-I), Special Needs Trusts for Mentally Incapacitated Persons in Hong Kong: A Proposed Framework, $825,800.
• Felix Chan, Further Reforms in Hong Kong’s Personal Injury Compensation: An Inquisitive Perspective, $590,500. 
• Amanda Whitfort,  A Comparative Evaluation of Hong Kong's Legislative Powers to Regulate Trade in Endangered Wild Animals, $370,500.

Congratulations to RGC Research Grant Awardees (Faculty of Law)

Congratulations to Shahla Ali, Antonio Da Roza, Peter Chau, Hualing Fu, Marco Wan and Richard Wu on their successful 2015-2016 General Research Fund grants awarded by Hong Kong's Research Grants Council.  A range of interesting projects are funded including projects on civil mediation reform, unrepresented civil litigants, criminal punishment philosophy, Chinese public interest lawyers, law and film in Hong Kong, and a comparative study in Asia of law students' perception of values.  This year's excellent results represent a success rate of 55 per cent and a total amount of funding of more than HK$3.6 million.