HKU Jessup Team crowned 2026 Hong Kong Overall Champion

The HKU Jessup Team was declared the Hong Kong Overall Champion in the 2026 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition on 28 February 2026. The Jessup Moot is also known as one of the most prestigious international mooting competitions in the world. This year’s Jessup problem concerned the issues of intervention of non-party states, indigenous rights, general principles of international law and immunities of state-owned enterprises.

The Team consists of Cherie Cheung (PCLL), Jonathan Ho (PCLL), Evan Robinson (PCLL), and Matthew See (LLB3). In addition to the Champion title, the Team was awarded both the Best Applicant Memorial Award and the Best Respondent Memorial Award, as well as two Best Oralist awards, with Evan Robinson and Cherie Cheung winning the 1st and 3rd Best Oralist awards respectively.

The Team would like to express their sincerest gratitude to the coaches, Mr Fergus Tam and Mr Thomas Lam, for their valuable feedback and guidance. The Team would also like to thank the guest judges, Mr Ryan Cheung, Mr Raphael Leung, Mr Jason Louie, Ms Faith Lee, Ms Holly Leung, Ms Ally Chan, Mr Leo Pang, Mr Chung Hin Yue, and Ms Veronica Yu for their kind assistance, helpful advice and rigorous advocacy training. The team now advances to the Global Rounds in Washington DC, in which they will represent Hong Kong.

Congratulations to Puja Kapai honoured as one of “Women of Power” 2025

Congratulations to Professor Puja Kapai Paryani, who are honoured as one of “Women of Power” 2025. The Scheme is an initiative by Prestige magazine that identifies, celebrates, and builds a community of influential women in various fields across Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. It aims to inspire other women, particularly the next generation, through summits and annual lists, and foster a supportive network where members can collaborate and create positive social impact.

This is not the first time Puja is recognized; her commitment to pluralism and equity earned her the International Women of Courage Award in 2015 and the 2021 Global Pluralism Award. And we are proud that her pioneering work in human rights, inclusion, diversity and social justice, is well acknowledged and appreciated.

Cora Chan’s book awarded Special Mention for ICON-S Book Prize

Congratulations to Professor Cora Chan for winning a Special Mention for the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S) Annual Book Prize with her book Deference in Human Rights Adjudication (Oxford University Press 2024). This prize is one of the most prestigious book awards in the field of public law. The judges awarded the honorary mention to Cora’s book for its “sophistication, analytical depth, and comprehensiveness with which [it] tackles the subject matter, promising to be a guide not just to courts and practitioners, but also to academics interested in the theoretical problems raised by the question of deference in adjudication.” 

Cora’s book was also one of two finalists for the 2024 Book of the Year Award from the International Forum on the Future of Constitutionalism.

HKU Jessup Team crowned 2025 Hong Kong Overall Champion

(Left to right): Mr Thomas Lam (coach), Mr Fergus Tam (coach), Ally Chan, Veronica Yu, Chunghin Yue, Leo Pang

The HKU Jessup Team was declared the Hong Kong Overall Champion in the 2025 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition on 2 March 2025. The Jessup Moot is also known as one of the most prestigious international mooting competitions in the world. This year’s Jessup problem concerned the issues of jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, immunities of state officials, law of the sea and recognition of governments.

The Team consists of Ally Chan (PCLL), Leo Pang (PCLL), Chung Hin Yue (PCLL), and Veronica Yu (PCLL). In addition to the Champion title, the Team was awarded the Best Respondent Memorial Award and all Best Oralist awards, with Leo Pang, Chung Hin Yue, and Veronica Yu winning the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Best Oralist awards respectively.

The Team would like to express their sincerest gratitude to the coaches, Mr Fergus Tam and Mr Thomas Lam, for their valuable feedback and guidance. The Team would also like to thank the guest judges, Ms Lisa Henderson KC, Ms Natalie So, Mr Ryan Cheung, Mr Raphael Leung, Mr Jason Louie, Mr Abdullah Bin Azhar, Mr Alex Chan, Mr Ambrose Yu, Ms Tiffany Ng, Ms Faith Lee, and Ms Holly Leung, for their kind assistance, helpful advice and rigorous advocacy training. The team now advances to the Global Rounds in Washington DC, in which they will represent Hong Kong.

Congratulations to Dr Anya Adair, the recipient of the Rosie Young 90 Medal for Outstanding Young Woman Scholar 2022!

In celebration of Professor Rosie Young’s 90th birthday on October 23, 2020, the Rosie Young 90 Medal for Outstanding Young Woman Scholar was established to honour her immense achievements and contributions to the University.  The Medal recognises talented young academics and encourage them to follow in her illustrious footsteps for many, many years to come.

Congratulations to Dr Anya Adair, the recipient of the Rosie Young 90 Medal for Outstanding Young Woman Scholar 2022.

Dr Anya Adair

Assistant Professor (cross appointed with Faculty of Arts)

"Dr Adair is a brilliant scholar who is also an outstanding collaborator and communicator – someone who is forging an international scholarly reputation in her specialisation while networking across disciplines and Faculties."

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HKU Jessup Team crowned 2023 Hong Kong Overall Champion

           (Left to right): Mr Fergus Tam (coach), Abdullah Bin Azhar, Ambrose Yu, Tiffany Ng, Faith Lee, Alex Chan, Mr Thomas Lam (coach) 

The HKU Jessup Team was declared the Hong Kong Overall Champion of the 2023 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition on 11 and 12 March 2023. Jessup is known as one of the most prestigious international mooting competitions in the world. This year’s Jessup problem concerns the interpretation of a peace treaty, the law of occupation and self-defence, unilateral economic sanctions, and international environmental law on the disposal of hazardous waste.

     The Team consists of Abdullah Bin Azhar (PCLL), Chan Chun Hin Alex (PCLL), Yu Sheung Him Ambrose (BBA&LLB 5), Ng Yuen Tung Tiffany (LLB 4), and Lee Zee Faith (LLB 3). To prepare for the competition, the Team drafted two 11,600-word memorials and received rigorous advocacy training. After competing against other law schools in Hong Kong, HKU and the City University of Hong Kong advanced to the Grand Final, emerging as the highest and second-highest ranking teams in the preliminary rounds respectively. Oral submissions were heard before Mr Johnny Mok SC, BBS, JP from Des Voeux Chambers, Mr Jin Pao SC from Temple Chambers, and Ms Jessica Zhou from White & Case. In addition to the Champion title, the Team received the Best Respondent Memorial Award, as well as all Best Oralist awards, with Abdullah Bin Azhar, Alex Chan and Ambrose Yu receiving the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places of Best Oralist awards respectively.

      The Team would like to express their sincerest gratitude to the coaches, Mr Fergus Tam and Mr Thomas Lam, for their valuable feedback and guidance. The Team would also like to thank the guest judges, Mr Ernest Ng, Ms Astina Au, Ms Natalie So, Mr Ryan Cheung, Mr Jason Louie and Mr Raphael Leung, for their kind assistance and helpful advice. The Team will participate in the international rounds in Washington DC in April 2023, in which they will represent Hong Kong in competing against fellow advocates from around 100 countries and jurisdictions.

Congratulations to Puja Kapai, the recipient of 2021 Global Pluralism Award!

Congratulations to Puja Kapai who has won the prestigious 2021 Global Pluralism Award from the Global Centre for Pluralism, an international research and education centre in Canada. The Award celebrates exemplary achievements in building more inclusive societies where diversity is protected. This year 500 nominations spanning 70 countries were received and Puja received the award for her research, advocacy, and mobilization in the advancement of the equal rights of Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities, women and children. Another 2 awardees are a school project promoting Jewish-Arab education in Israel and an organization in Kenya helping the historically excluded communities to access even the most basic services.  Click here to view the Virtual Ceremony that was held with remarks from the Right Hon. Joe Clark who was chair of the international jury for the award.

     “I am most humbled to receive the Global Pluralism Award,” Puja Kapai said. “By honouring my work in advancing social justice in relation to race, gender and minority rights, the Award renders visible the lived realities of all those who are routinely marginalised and experience systemic exclusion and discrimination in nearly every sphere of life. The Award also signals the responsibilities we each carry to begin the journey of inclusion, acceptance and pluralism at home.”

     Puja Kapai is an academic, lawyer and social justice advocate who challenges gendered and racialised cultural norms. An HKU alum who grew up in Hong Kong, she is also Convenor of the HKU Women’s Studies Research Centre, which advocates around issues of gender, sexuality and diversity as well as Director of the Faculty’s Social Justice Summer Internship program which partners with students and NGOs working on gender-based violence, human trafficking and migration, ethnic minorities, children’s rights and COVID-19 related inequalities to conduct research and develop related recommendations to drive policy change. Growing up as an ethnic minority child in racially homogenous Hong Kong, Kapai faced barriers to education from an early age; these experiences inspired her to break these barriers as an advocate, attorney, and legal scholar.

Congratulations to Ms Cora Chan, the recipient of the inaugural Rosie Young 90 Medal for Outstanding Young Woman Scholar!

In celebration of Professor Rosie Young’s 90th birthday, colleagues and friends contributed over $1M to establish the Rosie Young 90 Medal for Outstanding Young Woman Scholar to honour her immense achievements and contributions to the University. The Medal recognises talented young academics and encourage them to follow in her illustrious footsteps for many, many years to come.

Congratulations to Ms Cora Chan, the recipient of the inaugural Rosie Young 90 Medal for Outstanding Young Woman Scholar.

Ms Cora Sau-Wai Chan
Associate Professor
Faculty of Law

“Ms Chan is regarded as one of the best scholars of her generation in the field of Public Law, a field traditionally dominated by scholars in the US and Europe.”

[READ MORE]

HKU-SCF FinTech Academy Awarded “Best Governance, Risk and Compliance Solution“ in TechChallenge 2020

Congratulations to Professor Douglas Arner, Mr Brian Tang, and other teammates from Standard Chartered and HKU-SCF FinTech Academy on winning the Award for Best Governance, Risk and Compliance Solution in the inaugural “TechChallenge - Digitising Trade Finance” (TechChallenge).  The team proposed TradePro, a machine-learning model for trade finance inclusion for SMEs using internal and external datasets.  Recognition also goes to Dr Giuliano Costellano, who was a member of the Kozolchyk National Law (NatLaw) team shortlisted for the same problem challenge.

     Launched in August 2019, TechChallenge is a joint initiative of the BIS Innovation Hub and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, designed to showcase the potential for new innovative technologies to resolve problems in trade finance (TradeTech). Winners were selected from 103 technology solutions submitted by applicants worldwide to three problem statements: (1) Connecting Digital Islands and Increasing Network Size and Effects; (2) Trade Finance Inclusion for SMEs; and (3) TradeTech for Emerging Markets. Besides the best solution to each of the problem statement, other awards were made to recognize outstanding solutions in different aspects. All 17 winners and runners-up were invited to showcase their submissions at the Hong Kong Fintech Week, which ran as a virtual event on 2-6 November 2020.  For more information, see the BIS's press release statement (2 November 2020) and the TechChallenge Showcase for the names of all the winners, runners-up and shortlisted participants.

RTHK Features Johannes Chan's Award Winning Book on The University

RTHK PODCAST ONE

"Episode 2: The Necessity of Reading" (Cantonese)

10 October 2020

Books intervene in society, and the author defends value with words. Reading makes people reflect on what is right and wrong. The two award-winning books introduced in this episode are closely related to the present.

An ideological struggle: "Our Golden Age" 

Professor Zhou Baosong 

In the past ten years, Hong Kong has entered an era of resistance. Many people have taken to the streets to protect their beliefs. In the book, Professor Zhou records the deeds of these protesters and the values ​​behind the social movements, and explores the importance of these values ​​from different angles. By interpreting the current era, we can connect ourselves to the world, inject strength into our thoughts, and give meaning to life, thereby changing ourselves and the world.

University is the conscience of society: "The Right Way. University-written after the storm" 

Professor Johannes Chan

This book is a collection of articles published by Professor Chan in recent years. The content focuses on university and culture. It talks about ideal university education, and hopes that readers will rethink the value of universities and the mission of intellectuals. This book also records the turmoil in the appointment of the vice-principal of the University of Hong Kong. It allows us to experience the author's mental journey in the face of adversity while still adhering to principles through words, and brings a glimmer of hope to us in the great age.

Patricia Ho Recognised in Trafficking in Persons Report 2020

Congratulations to Patricia Ho who was recognised by the United States Department of State as one of ten 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report Heroes from around the world.  In the award ceremony, Patricia was awarded the honour, 

'In recognition of her dynamic leadership in defending the rights of human trafficking victims and marginalized groups by challenging government policies and laws and her relentless work to promote the better treatment of victims through elevation of survivor voices and a trauma-informed approach'.

  Patricia has been advocating for the rights of persons from margialised groups through her work as a public law solicitor and founder of the non-governmental organisation, Hong Kong Dignity Institute. In the Faculty of Law, Patricia is a principal lecturer who teaches in the Clinical Education Programme (both General and Refugee Streams) and Administrative Law in the LLB programme.  HKU law students gain valuable knowledge and experience in working with Patricia who has been instrumental in bringing important human rights issues before the Hong Kong courts.

Puja Kapai Awarded Women of Influence Award 2019

Conferring WOI Professional of Year Award 2019

Congratulations to Puja Kapai on receiving the American Chamber of Commerce Women of Influence (WoI) Professional of the Year Award 2019! The WoI Conference is one of the most established women’s symposiums in the Asia Pacific region. The theme of the Conference this year was on perseverance, risk-taking, and leadership from outside the confines of the corporate world. In keeping with the theme, the awards conferred accolades on individuals and organisations that "made exceptional achievements" and demonstrated "a steadfast commitment to supporting female leadership in business."

    When presenting the Award, Abbi DeLessio, Co-Chair of the WoI Judging Committee and Senior Consultant at Triangle Associates, said that, “In making their decision, the judges noted Puja’s commitment to going beyond leaning in and dedicating her expertise to pushing boundaries and breaking through traditional barriers. Her journey that continues to inspire many, her students and women in minority communities… her work is so well-aligned with what is happening globally.” DeLessio shared that one judge said, “Puja’s work is gaining traction not only in Hong Kong but she is poised to make a huge difference. Her work is timely, relevant and important and will have a lasting impact.”

      Puja spoke about the value of her work and the award in her acceptance speech:

People within my community sometimes ask me whether my work makes any difference? Were the sacrifices I have made worth it? I think about this, too. As minority women, we often fall through the cracks due to intersectional dimensions of our identity which are inadequately captured by narratives of racism or sexism on their own. But we are more than just the sum of our parts. These experiences unmask how powerful people and powerful systems invisibilise women of colour by glossing over the structural barriers we face and by ignoring our agency and voice. This negative narrative diminishes our agency, constructs us as vulnerable and invites many ‘saviours’ or naysayers who counsel us to stay in our lanes. This Award helps rewrite this script on minority women to enable people like me to be seen as empowered agents for change in our own right, both within and outside our communities. And my hope is for this to encourage and inspire many others out there who dream to make an impact.

 Puja is Convenor of HKU's Women's Studies Research Centre and Associate Professor in HKU Law.