New Issues: SSRN Legal Studies Research Paper Series (HKU)

Vol. 6, No. 6: 23 December 2016

Table of Contents

1.A Principles-Based Response to the Proposed Reform of the Governance Structure for Listing Regulation in Hong Kong

Syren Johnstone, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, Asian Institute of International Financial Law

Nigel Davis, University of Hong Kong

Douglas W. Arner, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

2. The Limits of Critique and the Forces of Law

Daniel Charles Matthews, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Scott Veitch, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

3. Plasticity, Jurisdiction and the Interruption of Sovereignty: A Response to Catherine Malabou Via José Saramago's Seeing

Daniel Charles Matthews, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

4. Narrative, Space and Atmosphere: A Nomospheric Inquiry into Hong Kong's Pro-Democracy 'Umbrella Movement'

Daniel Charles Matthews, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

5. The Nomos of Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement

Daniel Charles Matthews, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

6. A Spirit of the Common: Re-Imagining 'The Common Law' with Jean-Luc Nancy

Daniel Charles Matthews, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Vol. 7, No. 1: 17 February 2017

Table of Contents

1. 'All for Some' or 'Some for All'? Assessing the Realisation of the Right to Social Welfare in the Retirement Protection Reform in Hong Kong 

Karen Kong, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

2. Legal Origin and Corporate Governance for Chinese Family Business: Evidence in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China 

Hugo Ho-Ting Chu, The University of Hong Kong - Asian Institute of International Financial Law, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law, University College Dublin (UCD) - Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Department of Applied Social Sciences 

3. The Emergence of Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene 

Jolene Lin, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

4. Towards Peer Presence in Post Disaster Governance: An Empirical Study 

Shahla F. Ali, Deputy Director, Program in Arbitration & Dispute Resolution, University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law

Jolene Lin Appointed to Editorial Board of Journal of Environmental Law (OUP)

Congratulations to Jolene Lin on her appointment to the Editorial Board of Journal of Environmental Law (JEL), published by Oxford University Press.  JEL is one of the leading international journals on environmental law and an "an authoritative source of informed analysis for all those who have any dealings in this vital field of legal study" (JEL website).  Jolene also sits on the editorial boards of Transnational Environmental Law (Cambridge University Press), Climate Law (Brill), and the book series Legal Perspectives on Global Challenges (Eleven International Publishing).

Honourable Mention for the 2015 Richard Macrory Prize (Jolene Lin)

Congratulations to Jolene Lin and our former colleague Kelvin Low on receiving an Honourable Mention for the 2015 Richard Macrory Prize, an annual award for the best articles in the Journal of Environmental Law, published by Oxford University Press.  The recognition was received for their article, KFK Low & J Lin, "Carbon Credits as EU Like It: Property, Immunity, TragiCO2medy?" which was reported on earlier in his blog.  The judging panel, consisting of five Journal board members (excluding the General Editor), wrote the following about their article:

"This article is an excellent example of how excellent legal scholarship can make a valuable contribution in environmental law. The authors consider, from a property law perspective, the legal nature of a carbon credit. This thoughtful and rigorous analysis would be very helpful in a relevant legal dispute. The approach of the article moves the subject on in thinking about how environmental law concepts and more conventional areas of legal doctrine interrelate, examining how environmental regulation interacts with legal systems more deeply."

New Issue: SSRN Legal Studies Research Paper Series (HKU)

Vol. 5, No. 6: 24 July 2015

Table of Contents 

1. The Achievement of Constitutionalism in Asia: Moving Beyond 'Constitutions Without Constitutionalism'
Albert H. Y. Chen, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

2. What Does Wukan Offer? Land-Taking, Law, and Dispute Resolution
Fu Hualing, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

3. The First Successful Climate Negligence Case: A Comment on Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands
Jolene Lin, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

4. Carbon Credits As EU Like It: Property, Immunity, TragiCO2medy?
Kelvin Low, Singapore Management University - School of Law
Jolene Lin, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Jolene Lin on the EU Carbon Credits Scheme

"Carbon Credits as EU Like It: Property, Immunity, TragiCO2medy?"
Kelvin Low and Jolene Lin
Journal of Environmental Law
Volume 27 (2015) Advance Access (July 2015)

Abstract: While there have been many legal studies of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), none seem to have considered the EU ETS from the perspective of private law, particularly the private law issues that stem from the ambiguous legal nature of the ‘carbon credit’. Such ambiguity translates into regulatory uncertainty and business risks of the sort that occurred in Armstrong DLW GmbH v Winnington Networks Ltd [2013] Ch 156, an English case involving fraud and ‘stolen’ European Union Allowances (EUAs). From an environmental law and policy perspective, uncertainty does not bode well for the EU ETS’s regulatory effectiveness and environmental integrity. From a property law perspective, the legal nature of the EUA begs for clarification in order to give holders of EUAs certainty of their rights and obligations, the absence of which led to the litigation in Armstrong v Winnington taking on an unduly convoluted complexion. The authors argue that one of the critical failures of the EU ETS lies in its failure to properly define the fundamental legal nature of the EUA. While this omission to define can be explained away by deference to the principle of subsidiarity, it can be argued that the omission stems also from a failure to appreciate the legal nature of intangible property as well as a misunderstanding of the way in which registers of rights operate. Handicapped by conceptual failings, the EU ETS exposes participants to unnecessary uncertainty that national courts will find difficult to resolve.  Click here to download the full article.

Jolene Lin Comments on First Successful Climate Negligence Case

"The First Successful Climate Negligence Case: A Comment on Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands"

Jolene Lin
Climate Law
(2015), Volume 5, Issue 1 (forthcoming)

Abstract: On 24 June 2015, the Hague District Court issued the long-awaited judgment in the case of Urgenda Foundation v the State of the Netherlands. The decision has been heralded as a historical landmark ruling, and rightly so. The Urgenda decision marks the first time ever that a court has ordered a government of the day to curb a State’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Globally, it is also the first case in which the tort of negligence has been successfully used to hold a State liable for its failure to adequately mitigate climate change. This case commentary begins by briefly setting out some background on climate litigation. It then sets out the facts of the case and analyses key aspects of the decision. It concludes with some remarks about the significance of the decision.  Click here to download the case comment.

Jolene Lin on Climate Change Litigation in Asia Pacific

"Climate Change Litigation in Asia and the Pacific"

Jolene Lin (pp. 578-602)

in Geert Van Calster, Wim Vandenberghe & Leonie Reins (eds),

Research Handbook on Climate Change Mitigation Law

Edward Elgar, March 2015

Abstract: The vast majority of climate change litigation has taken place in the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). In the Asia Pacific region, there has been no climate change litigation, with the notable exception of Australia and to a lesser extent, New Zealand. This chapter will review selected case law from Australia and New Zealand. Further, commentators have argued that the conditions are ripe in certain jurisdictions like India and the Philippines for the use of climate change litigation as part of a broader advocacy strategy to press for governmental action to address climate change. Even though it is most likely that these cases will focus on climate change adaptation, rather than mitigation, this chapter will discuss the India and the Philippines case studies to shed light on broader questions of why mitigation-centric climate change litigation may not take off the way it has in the US and EU.

New Issue: SSRN Legal Studies Research Paper Series

Vol. 5, No. 1: 19 Jan 2015

Table of Contents 

1.  "Constitutions, Constitutional Practice and Constitutionalism in East Asia"
Albert H. Y. Chen, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

2.  "Introduction of Competition and Environmental Regulation in the Electricity Sector in Hong Kong"
Thomas K. Cheng, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law
Jolene Lin, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

3.  "Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement and Beijing's Failure to Honor the Basic Law"
Michael C. Davis, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

4.  "China & the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: The Tibetan Case"
Michael C. Davis, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Cheng & Lin on the Electricity Sector in Hong Kong

"Introduction of Competition and Environmental Regulation in the Electricity Sector in Hong Kong"
2014, Vol. 37, Issue 4, pp. 569-600
World Competition
Thomas Cheng and Jolene Lin

Abstract: This article explores both the competition and the environmental aspects of the electricity sector in Hong Kong, and a possible linkage between them. There has been considerable public pressure to liberalize the electricity sector in Hong Kong due to longstanding discontent with the persistently high profit of the sector and a regulatory structure that is widely perceived to be ineffective. In light of the government's seeming reluctance to pursue liberalization, this article examines an alternative approach - litigation under the recently adopted Competition Ordinance. It assesses the likelihood of success of the strategy and its potential shortfalls. The article proceeds to analyse whether competition can be used as a tool to improve the environmental performance of the sector. It concludes that the effect of the introduction of competition is ambiguous if not adverse and therefore proactive regulatory intervention will be needed to ensure that environmental performance does not deteriorate following the introduction of competition. Competition will not be an effective tool to improve the environmental performance of the sector.  Click here to download full article.

IBA Report on Climate Disruption, Justice and Human Rights

New IBA Report

22 Sept 2014.  The International Bar Association published its ground-breaking 240-page report, Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption.  The Report finds that, while climate change affects everyone, it disproportionately strikes those who have contributed to it the least and lack the resources to respond.  The Report assesses the severe challenges currently facing national and international legal regimes which are poorly suited to provide legal remedies to those most affected, and outlines concrete recommendations for reform to create climate change justice structures that actively help protect and preserve environmental and human rights.  Associate Professor Jolene Lin, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, was a member of the Task Force chaired by David Estrin and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.  Jolene has also recently written an article, "Pangolins in Peril: What Conservation has to do with Global Security", published in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.

New Book from Jolene Lin

Global Environmental Law At A Crossroads Robert V. Percival , Jolene Lin , William Piermattei

Edward Elgar, August 2014

Global Environmental Law at a Crossroads analyzes cutting-edge developments in environmental law around the globe. Written in the aftermath of the “Rio+20” conference, this book addresses environmental governance from the international, regional and national levels. The topics include climate change initiatives, market-based environmental measures, water and food systems management, environmental governance structures and theories, and examples of environmental policy innovations from around the world. The global coverage draws on experiences from the EU, the Middle East, China, Brazil, Ecuador, Nigeria, Ethiopia, New Zealand and Australia. 

This book will be a useful resource to scholars and students of environmental law and policy. Government and environmental officials as well as resource managers will find of interest the analyses of varied experiences around the world. These comparative experiences provide a rich introduction to the emerging field of global environmental law.