The faculty, particularly within its Philip K.H. Wong Center for Chinese Law, has the widest range of expertise in Chinese law outside mainland China. Our expertise ranges from criminal law, public law, securities and intellectual property regulation and financing, to cross-border issues, legal theory and jurisprudence. Coupled with our strength in common law, we offer comparative law research and teaching on civil and common law. Due to Hong Kong`s unique position and our faculty, our research on Chinese comparative law has been frequently cited in international journals, and our Master`s program in Chinese Law has been able to attract students from all over the world interested in China`s legal development and its interface with the Western world. Our colleagues are participating in discussions on legal reform in mainland China. Help finding potential supervisors can be found on the HKU Legal Scholarship (researchblog.law.hku.hk/) blog. Since 1969, our faculty has been training graduates who are now respected lawyers, community leaders and top academics. Through careful planning of curriculum design and recruitment of leading scholars from around the world, the faculty has six research forces: The faculty has a particular interest in research at the intersection of law and humanities with a number of researchers working in the fields of legal theory, Law and Film, Law and Language, Legal History, Law and Literature and Related Fields. Research is conducted using a range of interdisciplinary methods and in collaboration with scientists internationally and in the wider community. The faculty also actively develops the interdisciplinary field of arbitration and dispute resolution, which includes law, economics, government, psychology, economics, anthropology and education. We have expertise in conflict resolution in Anglo-American and mainland China, and the goal is to create a productive dialogue between rigorous research and academia and the competitive advantage of practice in this field with great potential.
Because negotiation and dispute resolution are also linked to culture and values, we are developing a broad program of dispute resolution and negotiation in this part of the world where there is a strong cultural approach to these issues. All our RPg students must take the Graduate School courses as well as the prescribed faculty courses for their respective fields of study/degrees, i.e. 1 compulsory course and 2 elective courses from the list of research methodology courses, satisfactorily completed. The faculty offers three types of research degrees, MPhil, PhD, and SJD. A successful master`s thesis must represent the candidate`s research result, which has some originality and demonstrates a good understanding of the field of study and appropriate research methods. Applicants conduct research under the supervision of at least one faculty employee. Graduate scholarships are awarded by the Academic Grants Committee (UGC) through the University to financially support selected postgraduate researchers. Commercial and international business law is an established area of the faculty. The East Asian International Economic Law (EAIEL) programme is the focus of teaching and research in this area. Our colleagues are actively participating in the current debates on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, China`s new free trade agreements, China`s Belt and Road Initiative and trade disputes at the WTO. EAIEL`s Visiting Scholar Program also brings regional and international experts to the region.
For a 3-year full-time program, applicants must possess one of the following qualifications; (i) a Bachelor of Laws or equivalent degree with distinction from that university or other accredited university and a Master of Laws from that university or other accredited university; or (ii) any other qualification recognized by the Senate on the recommendation of the Faculty of Law in individual cases; The faculty has extensive expertise in the field of commercial law, including common law matters such as contracts, tort, property, equity, tax, credit and security, mergers and acquisitions, stock exchange, banking, finance, commercial writing as well as FinTech, RegTech, private international law and international commercial and business law. This is a very diverse field, but very important for legal education. Our Asian Institute of International Financial Law has been at the centre of our research in corporate and financial law and has brought many prominent academics to Hong Kong for many highly successful public lectures and academic conferences. This is an important area in the faculty. In the area of information technology law, the Law and Technology Centre has produced considerable research results and, with substantial funding from the Government of Hong Kong, has developed the highly successful Community Legal Information Centre project, which provides legal knowledge to the public. The Centre also oversees the Hong Kong Legal Information Institute, which provides the public with free access to one of Hong Kong`s best electronic databases of legal documents, thus contributing to better access to the law. Our intellectual property scientists conduct cutting-edge research in biomedical development and pharmaceuticals, as well as domain name litigation and policy research. The Faculty of Law – Hong Kong`s oldest law school – consistently ranks among the top law schools in the world (e.g., No. 25 in law, the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020). Located in its new 11-story skyscraper, the faculty is highly regarded for providing quality legal education and lifelong learning opportunities. Many of its graduate students have gone on to become accomplished academics, law firm partners, government officials and judges. The faculty is organized into two departments, namely the Department of Law and the Department of Professional Legal Education.
