# University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law of The University of Hong Kong (commonly known as HKU Law) is one of the 11 faculties and schools at The University of Hong Kong. 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. 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 competitions, having won moots such as the Hong Kong Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot 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 program, four 5-year double-degree programs: BSocSc (Government and Laws) - LLB, BBA (Business and Laws) - LLB, BA (Literary Studies) - LLB, and BSc - 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, Chinese law, Compliance and Regulation, corporate law and financial law, information technology and intellectual property, 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 or formerly served in all three branches of government.

### Judiciary

* Andrew Cheung GBM, 3rd Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal
* Patrick Chan GBM, former Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal
* Susan Kwan, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal
* Johnson Lam, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal
* Jeremy Poon, 5th Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong
* Wally Yeung GBS, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal

### Executive

* David Leung SC, 6th Director of Public Prosecutions
* Elsie Leung GBM, 1st Secretary for Justice
* Keith Yeung SC, 5th Director of Public Prosecutions
* Rimsky Yuen GBM SC JP, 3rd Secretary for Justice

### Legislative

* Audrey Eu SC, former Member of the Legislative Council
* Alan Leong 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 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 current and former professors

* Douglas W. Arner
* Daniel A. Bell
* Anthony Carty
* Johannes Chan SC (Hon), human rights lawyer, Chairman of the Management Committee of the Consumer Legal Action Fund, and member of the Bar Council of the Hong Kong Bar Association
* Albert Chen, member of the Basic Law Committee and the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong
* Yash Ghai, Chairman of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (2000–2004)
* Alec Stone Sweet
* Benny Tai
* Raymond Wacks, professor of Law and Legal Theory

### Visiting professors

* Francis Reynolds, emeritus professor of law at the University of Oxford, author of Bowstead and Reynolds on Agency
* Sarah Worthington DBE KC (Hon), former Downing Professor of the Laws of England at the University of Cambridge

### Honorary professors

* Andrew Li GBM CBE KC SC JP, first Chief Justice of Hong Kong after the Handover
* Geoffrey Ma GBM KC SC , former Chief Justice of Hong Kong
* Grenville Cross GBS KC SC, former Director of Public Prosecutions of Hong Kong
* Michael Kirby AC CMG, former Justice of the High Court of Australia