Welcome the new Global Academic Fellow Dr Suhong Yang!

Welcome to Dr Suhong Yang who joined the Faculty of Law as a Global Academic Fellow. Dr. Suhong Yang is an international lawyer interested in criminal law, human rights, and environmental law issues. Her S.J.D. dissertation investigates the legitimacy of international and hybrid criminal tribunals that try atrocity crimes in post-conflict situations. Suhong was awarded as a David D. Caron Fellow and a Salzburg Cutler Fellow for her research. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Chinese Journal of International Law, Denver Journal of International Law & Policy, European Papers, George Mason International Law Journal, International Legal Materials, and Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting.

At the HKU Faculty of Law, Suhong is engaged in teaching activities and assisting the Director of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law in research-related activities. Prior to joining the HKU, Suhong was a Judicial Fellow at the International Court of Justice, working with Judge H.E. XUE Hanqin. She also served the Office of the President of the U.N. International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and the Legal Policy Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Suhong holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Renmin University of China, and LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees from Georgetown University Law Center. In addition to the academic degrees, she also studied at the University of Oxford, Kathmandu School of Law, and Cheng-Chi University (Taiwan) in different capacities. Suhong has facilitated teaching or been invited to give guest lectures on tort law, international law, US law, and Chinese law at Georgetown University, Leiden University, and Renmin University.

Suhong is currently Vice-Chair of the International Criminal Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), and Secretary of ASIL Women in International Law Interest Group. She served as Co-Chair of ASIL New Professionals Interest Group from 2019 to 2023.

Sherif Elgebeily on the War Crime of Hospital Air Strikes (SCMP)

"When apologies for hospital air strikes are not enough"
Sherif Elgebeily
South China Morning Post
30 October 2015

For the second time in less than a month, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is coming to terms with the fallout from errant air strikes, first by US forces in Afghanistan and, this time, allegedly by Saudi forces in Yemen. On both occasions, MSF clearly and repeatedly relayed the coordinates of their locations to all parties. The strikes, then, seem deliberate and in clear violation of international humanitarian law; the bombings appear to be war crimes.

       Article 8(1) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is unequivocal in its condemnation of "intentionally directing attacks against personnel [and] installations … involved in a humanitarian assistance" as part of an international armed conflict. While the Rome Statute is arguably an international treaty, rather than customary law which is applicable upon states irrespective of whether they have signed and ratified it, international humanitarian workers are substantially protected by the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which are universally applicable. In short, there is no escape from the wrongful act.

      Despite an apology by US President Barack Obama for the attack that killed over 20 in Kunduz, there is yet to be a transparent investigation. On Yemen, there was an admission of a "mistake" but the Saudi-led coalition has subsequently denied responsibility. Rumours are circulating that MSF improperly relayed its coordinates in Yemen, and that the targeted facilities in Afghanistan were under the control of enemy combatants and therefore lost their protected status under the laws of war... Click here to read the full article.

Towards an International Piracy Tribunal

"Towards an International Piracy Tribunal: Curing the Legal Limbo of Captured Pirates"

African Journal of International and Comparative Law

Vol. 22, Issue 3, October 2014

James Fry

Introduction: The number of pirates from Somalia acting in and around the Arabian Sea and Arab Gulf seems to have grown exponentially in recent years, catching numerous headlines and the world's attention in the process.  Although naval powers have devoted substantial energy and resources to conducting various enforcement missions, little has been done to prosecute their captured pirates.  At present, the capturing powers usually either release pirates shortly after they are captured or 'dump' them for trial at a developing African country.  This practice hardly can be said to provide an effective deterrence to piracy.  To aid in deterring these pirates through proper prosecution, the establishment of an international judicial organisation in the region - perhaps in Qatar - that focuses specifically on these types of crimes and criminals might be helpful in terms of convenience and legitimacy.  This article is the first to explore this possibility from a legal perspective...