The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law (commonly known as HKU Law) is one of the 11 faculties and schools at the
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the f ...
. Founded in 1969 as the Department of Law, it is the oldest
law school in Hong Kong. HKU Law is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the world. In 2019, HKU Law was ranked 18th on the
QS World Rankings and 22nd on the
Times Higher Education World Rankings.
History
The Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong was established in 1969 as a Department of Law in the Faculty of
Social Sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
. It became a faculty in its own right in 1984.
With the help of
Henry Litton
Henry Denis Litton CBE, GBM ( Chinese transliteration: 烈顯倫; born 7 August 1934) is a retired judge in Hong Kong.
Early life and education
Born into a Eurasian family in Hong Kong, Henry Litton excelled in school during his early years ...
,
Gerald de Basto, and other legal practitioners, the faculty has taken part in publishing the ''
Hong Kong Law Journal'' since 1971 as well as the student-run law review ''Hong Kong Journal of Legal Studies'' since 1994. The faculty also has had successes in international
moot court
Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In most countries, the phrase " ...
competitions, having won moots such as the
Hong Kong Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot
The Hong Kong Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot is an annual international moot court competition organised by the Hong Kong Red Cross and International Committee of the Red Cross in collaboration with universities in Hong Kong. It is ...
and
LAWASIA Moot in the past.
Degrees offered
The faculty has two departments, the Department of Law and the Department of Professional Legal Education, and four research centres. The faculty offers a 4-year
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
program, three 5-year double-degree programs:
BSocSc (Government and Laws) - LLB,
BBA (Business and Laws) - LLB, and
BA (Literary Studies) - LLB in conjunction with other faculties of the university, a 2-year intensive
JD program (for non-law graduates), a professional qualification program (
PCLL
The Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL; 法學專業證書) is an intensive one-year full-time (or two-year part-time) professional legal qualification programme in Hong Kong. It allows graduates to proceed to legal training before qualifyi ...
), and a variety of
LLM
A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
programmes focusing on
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
,
Chinese law
Chinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. The core of modern Chinese law is based on Germanic-style civil law, socialist law, and traditional Chinese approaches.
For most of the history of China, its legal system h ...
, Compliance and Regulation,
corporate law and financial law,
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...
and
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
, and
arbitration. It also offers various research postgraduate programs, including
MPhil,
PhD and
SJD.
Six members of the faculty have been conferred the honour of Teaching Fellows by the University, rendering it one of the Departments with the largest number of Teaching Fellows in the University. The faculty also plays host to many scholars and academic conferences each year. The faculty works closely with the legal profession. Its PCLL programme provides an entry qualification to the legal profession in Hong Kong.
Notable alumni
The faculty has alumni serving in all three branches of government.
Judiciary
*
Patrick Chan
Patrick Lewis Wai–Kuan Chan (born December 31, 1990) is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. He is a 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, 2014 Olympic silver medallist in the men's and team events, a three–time World ch ...
, former Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal
*
Andrew Cheung
Andrew Cheung Kui-nung (; born 24 September 1961) is a Hong Kong judge who serves as the 3rd Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal. He previously served as a Permanent Judge of the same court. He was the 4th and longest-serving Chief J ...
, 3rd
Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal
*
Susan Kwan
Susan Kwan Shuk-hing (; born 1954) is a Hong Kong judge. She has served as a Vice President of the Court of Appeal since April 2019.
Legal and judicial career
Kwan received an LLB in 1977 and a PCLL in 1978 from the University of Hong Kong ...
, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal
*
Johnson Lam
Johnson Lam Man-hon () is a Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
Biography
Early life and education
Lam was born in Hong Kong in 1961. He obtained an LL.B. and P.C.LL. from the University of Hong Kong in 1983 and 1984 respe ...
, Vice-President of the
Court of Appeal
*
Jeremy Poon
The Honourable Mr Justice Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor () is the Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong and President of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong.
Since 2018, he has served as President of the Scout Council of the Scout Association of ...
, 5th
Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong
The Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong (CJHC) is the head of the High Court of Hong Kong and the President of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong. In the Hong Kong order of precedence, the Chief Judge is the second most senior administr ...
*
Wally Yeung
Wally Yeung Chun-kuen (; born 1950) is the Commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance and a retired Hong Kong judge.
Education
Yeung received an LLB in 1974 and a PCLL in 1975 from the University of Hong Kong. During ...
, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal
Executive
*
David Leung SC, 6th
Director of Public Prosecutions
*
Elsie Leung
Elsie Leung Oi-sie, GBM, JP (; born 24 April 1939) is a Hong Kong politician and solicitor. She was Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong from 1997 to 2005 and a member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong.
Early life and education
Leung was ...
, 1st Secretary for Justice
*
Keith Yeung
Keith Yeung Kah-hung () is a Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court of Hong Kong, and was previously the 5th Director of Public Prosecutions of Hong Kong.
Legal career
Keith Yeung - Dương Gia-hùng received an LLB in 1986 a ...
SC, 5th Director of Public Prosecutions
*
Rimsky Yuen
Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung (; born 17 June 1964) is a barrister who served as the third Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong from 2012 to 2018.
He was the chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association from 2007 to 2010, as well as a member of the Guan ...
SC, 3rd Secretary for Justice
Legislative
*
Audrey Eu
Audrey Eu Yuet-mee is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and was founding leader of the Civic Party. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the Civic Party, focusing on party development. In politics, Eu has fo ...
SC, former Member of the
Legislative Council
*
Alan Leong
Alan Leong Kah-kit (; born 22 February 1958), SC is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, representing the Kowloon East geographical constituency, and the sitting-Chairman of the Civic Party. He was also vice-chairperson of th ...
SC, former Member of the Legislative Council
*
Dennis Kwok
Dennis Kwok Wing-hang (; born 15 April 1978) is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council having represented the Legal functional constituency from 2012 to 2020 and a founding member of Civic Party. In the Legislative Council, he w ...
, former Member of the Legislative Council
*
Margaret Ng
Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee (; born 25 January 1948) is a politician, barrister, writer and columnist in Hong Kong. She was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1995 to 2012.
Biography
Before entering the legal profession, Margaret ...
, former Member of the Legislative Council
*
Ronny Tong
Ronny Tong Ka-wah, SC KC (; born 28 August 1950 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong Senior Counsel and politician. He is a current non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. He co-founded the Civic Party and was a member of the Legis ...
SC, Member of the Executive Council, former Member of the Legislative Council
Others:
*
Johannes Chan
Johannes Chan Man-mun (陳文敏) SC (Hon) is an Adjunct Professor, former Chair Professor of Law (–2021) and former Dean of the Faculty of Law (2002–2014) at the University of Hong Kong. He specialises in human rights, constitutional and ...
, SC (Hon) the only Honorary Senior Counsel in Hong Kong, former Dean of the Faculty of Law
Notable professors
*
Johannes Chan
Johannes Chan Man-mun (陳文敏) SC (Hon) is an Adjunct Professor, former Chair Professor of Law (–2021) and former Dean of the Faculty of Law (2002–2014) at the University of Hong Kong. He specialises in human rights, constitutional and ...
SC (Hon),
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
lawyer, Chairman of the Management Committee of the Consumer Legal Action Fund, and member of the Bar Council of the
Hong Kong Bar Association
The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) is the professional regulatory body for barristers in Hong Kong. The Law Society of Hong Kong is the equivalent association for solicitors in Hong Kong.
Victor Dawes SC is the current chairman of the Cou ...
*
Albert Chen
Albert Chen Hung-yee (born 1957) is a Hong Kong legal scholar, specialising in constitutional law. He is the current Cheng Chan Lan Yue Professor in Constitutional Law and the Chair of Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law of the Universit ...
, member of the Basic Law Committee and the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong
Emeritus professors
*
Yash Ghai
Yash Pal Ghai CBE (born 20 October 1938) is a Kenyan academic in constitutional law. As of 2007 he is the head of the Constitution Advisory Support Unit of the United Nations Development Programme in Nepal. Until 2008, he was a Special Repres ...
, Chairman of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (2000–2004)
*
Raymond Wacks
Raymond Wacks is Emeritus Professor of Law and Legal Theory at the University of Hong Kong, where he was Head of the Department of Law from 1986 to 1993. He was previously Professor of Public Law and Head of the Department of Public Law at the U ...
, professor of Law and Legal Theory
Visiting professors
*
Francis Reynolds, emeritus professor of law at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, author of ''Bowstead and Reynolds on Agency''
*
Sarah Worthington
Dame Sarah Elizabeth Worthington, (''née'' Monks; born 18 February 1955) is a British legal scholar, barrister, and Deputy High Court Judge in the Chancery Division, specialising in company law, commercial law, and equity. From 2011 to 2022, ...
QC (Hon), professor of law at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
Honorary professors
*
Andrew Li, first
Chief Justice of Hong Kong after the
Handover
In cellular telecommunications, handover, or handoff, is the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another channel. In satellite communications it is the process of transfe ...
*
Grenville Cross
Ian Grenville Cross (, born 15 June 1951) is a British barrister who was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of Hong Kong on 15 October 1997, and held this post for over 12 years, until 21 October 2009. He was the first DPP to be ...
, former
Director of Public Prosecutions of Hong Kong
*
Michael Kirby, former Justice of the
High Court of Australia
See also
*
The University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...
*
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university and ...
*
City University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...
*
Postgraduate Certificate in Laws
The Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL; 法學專業證書) is an intensive one-year full-time (or two-year part-time) professional legal qualification programme in Hong Kong. It allows graduates to proceed to legal training before qualifyi ...
*
The Asian Institute of International Financial Law
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Law schools in Hong Kong
University of Hong Kong