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 Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hon ...

. Founded in 1969 as the Department of Law, it is the oldest

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

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, 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 The Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC, ) is the national Red Cross society of Hong Kong as part of the ...

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 Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

(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), and a variety of LLM 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 syste ...

, 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 . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

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, co ...

, and

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ...

. It also offers various research postgraduate programs, including

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

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, 3rd

Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal The chief justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, sometimes informally known as the chief justice of Hong Kong, is the head of the Judiciary of Hong Kong and the chief judge of the Court of Final Appeal. The chief justice is one of t ...

* Susan Kwan, 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 resp ...

, Vice-President of the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

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 Hon ...

, 5th Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong * Wally Yeung, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal

Executive

* David Leung SC, 6th

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

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 o ...

SC, former Member of the Legislative Council * Dennis Kwok, former Member of the Legislative Council * Margaret Ng, 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, SC (Hon) the only Honorary Senior Counsel in Hong Kong, former Dean of the Faculty of Law

Notable professors

* Johannes Chan SC (Hon),

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, 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, 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 202 ...

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 Andrew Li Kwok-nang (; born December 1948) is a retired Hong Kong judge, and a former Chief Justice of Hong Kong, who was the first to preside over the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, established on 1 July 1997. Li was succeeded by Geoffre ...

, first Chief Justice of Hong Kong after the Handover *

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 a ...

, former

of Hong Kong * Michael Kirby, former Justice of the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established following passage of the '' Judiciary Act 1903''. ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Law schools in Hong Kong University of Hong Kong