Degree
Regulations
and
Course
Descriptions
1999-2000
Admission requirements
LL48 To be eligible for admission to the courses leading to the Postgraduate Diploma in Common Law or the Master of Common Law, a candidate shall
| (a) | comply with the General Regulations; and | |
| (b) | (i) | hold a degree in law from a university (or comparable institution accepted for this purpose) in a non-common law jurisdiction; or |
| (ii) | have been admitted to the professional practice of law in a non-common law jurisdiction. | |
A candidate for admission shall, if required, produce evidence of sufficient academic attainment, and shall satisfy the examiners in a qualifying examination if such an examination is required. A candidate who fails to meet the requirements of (b) above may, in exceptional circumstances, be admitted provided that the Faculty Higher Degrees Committee is satisfied that by reason of his or her background, experience and professional qualifications, if any, the candidate is fit to follow the courses, and the candidate satisfies the examiners in a qualifying examination.
Qualifying examination
LL49
| (a) | A qualifying examination may be set to test the candidate's formal academic ability or his or her ability to follow the courses of study prescribed. It shall consist of one or more examination papers or a research paper. |
| (b) | A candidate who is required to satisfy the examiners in a qualifying examination shall not be permitted to register until he or she has satisfied the examiners in the examination. |
Award of postgraduate diploma
LL50 To be eligible for the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Common Law, a candidate shall
| (a) | comply with the General Regulations; and |
| (b) | complete the curriculum and satisfy the examiners in accordance with the regulations set out below. |
Award of master degree
LL51 A candidate who has been admitted to the course leading to the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Common Law, and who has completed the curriculum for the Postgraduate Diploma in Common Law and satisfied the examiners in accordance with the regulations set out below, may be considered for admission to the course leading to the award of the Master of Common Law. If the candidate is so admitted, and completes and presents a satisfactory dissertation on an approved subject, the candidate shall be eligible for the award of the degree of Master of Common Law, but shall not be eligible for the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Common Law. A candidate admitted under this regulation to the course leading to the award of the Master of Common Law who fails to satisfy the examiners in respect of the dissertation shall be eligible for the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Common Law.
Curriculum
LL52 The curriculum for the Postgraduate Diploma in Common Law shall extend over one academic year of full-time study or two academic years of part-time study. To complete the curriculum a candidate shall
| (a) | follow instruction; |
| (b) | satisfactorily complete all prescribed written and other work; and |
| (c) | satisfy the examiners in each of a total number of subjects amounting to at least 48 credits in value and selected (with the approval of the Head of the Department of Law) from the subjects listed in the Syllabuses below, of which at least 30 credits must be selected from the subjects specified as Common Law subjects. |
Dissertation
LL53
| (a) | The title of the dissertation referred to in regulation 4 above shall be submitted for approval by not later than October 1 of the calendar year in which the curriculum for the Postgraduate Diploma in Common Law ends, and the dissertation shall be presented by not later than May 1 of the following year. |
| (b) | In exceptional circumstances a candidate may apply to the Faculty Higher Degrees Committee for an extension of the period within which the dissertation must be presented. |
| (c) | The candidate shall submit a statement that the dissertation represents his or her own work undertaken after registration as a candidate for the degree. |
| (d) | The examiners may require an oral examination on the subject of the dissertation. |
Examinations
LL54 Any candidate who has failed to pass a subject or subjects in the manner provided for in these Regulations may be permitted
| (a) | to sit a supplementary examination; or |
| (b) | to repeat the subject or subjects by following the course of instruction and taking the prescribed examination, or by taking the prescribed examination without following the course of instruction; or |
| (c) | to undertake the study of any alternative subject or subjects which enable completion of the curriculum. |
LL55 A candidate who has failed to pass a subject or subjects shall be recommended for the discontinuation of study under General Regulation G12 if not permitted to attend for examination at some other time or to sit a supplementary examination or to repeat the subject or subjects or to undertake the study of another subject or subjects which enable completion of the curriculum.
LL56 A candidate who is unable through illness or other acceptable reason to attend for examination may apply for permission to attend for examination at some other time.
LL57 A candidate who has failed to present a satisfactory dissertation may be permitted to revise the dissertation and re-present it within a specified period of not more than four months after receiving a notice that it is unsatisfactory.
Examination results
LL58 At the conclusion of the examinations, or, in the case of the Master of Common Law, after presentation and examination of the dissertations, a pass list shall be published in alphabetical order. A candidate who has shown exceptional merit may be awarded a mark of distinction, and this mark shall be recorded in the candidate's postgraduate diploma or degree diploma.
SYLLABUSES FOR THE POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN COMMON LAW AND MASTER OF COMMON LAW
COURSEWORK
The subjects available are as follows. Some of the subjects are not taught every academic year, but are run only if teachers and resources are available.
12-CREDIT COURSES
| Constitutional and administrative law I and II (Common Law subject) Criminal law I and II (Common Law subject) Equity and introduction to trusts I and II (Common Law subject) Law and society I and II Law of contract I and II (Common Law subject) Law of tort I and II (Common Law subject) Property law I and II (Common Law subject) |
6-CREDIT COURSES
|
Administrative law (Common Law subject) Admiralty (Common Law subject) Alternative dispute resolution Bank security (Common Law subject) Banking law (Common Law subject) Business associations (Common Law subject) Civil litigation (Common Law subject) Commercial law I (Common Law subject) Commercial law II (Common Law subject) Company law (Common Law subject) Copyright law (Common Law subject) Criminology Current legal controversies Economic analysis of law Emerging Markets : Finance and Investment (Common Law subject) Foundations in international financial law Fundamentals of evidence and trial procedure (Common Law subject) Human rights in China Human rights in Hong Kong (Common Law subject) Insolvency law (Common Law subject) Insurance law (Common Law subject) International commercial litigation (Common Law subject) International criminal law International human rights International organizations International trade law I (Common Law subject) International trade law II (Common Law subject) Introduction to legal theory Introduction to private international law (Common Law subject) Issues in evidence and trial procedure (Common Law subject) Issues in family law (Common Law subject) Issues in intellectual property law (Common Law subject) Labour law (Common Law subject) Law, justice and ideology Law of agency (Common Law subject) Law, the Individual and the Community (Common Law subject) Legal fictions : representations of the law in literature, philosophy and cinema Legal skills (Common Law subject) Medico-legal issues (Common Law subject) Planning and environmental law (Common Law subject) Principles of family law (Common Law subject) Public international law Remedies (Common Law subject) Selected problems of international law Shipping law (Common Law subject) Sociology of law Succession (Common Law subject) The child and the law (Common Law subject) The Hong Kong Basic Law (Common Law subject) The law of the sea The legal system (Common Law subject) Trusts (Common Law subject) |
DISSERTATION
This shall comprise a paper of not less than 10,000 words and not exceeding 15,000 words (exclusive of notes, appendices, bibliographies and tables of cases and statutes). It must provide evidence of original work or capacity for critical analysis.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
12-credit Courses
| LLAW1001 and LLAW1002 | Law of contract I and II |
The function of contract; formation of a valid contract; offer and acceptance; capacity; illegality; interpretation of the terms of a contract; misrepresentation; mistake; duress and undue influence; privity; performance, discharge and breach; quasi-contract; remedies; principles of agency (outline).
| LLAW1003 and LLAW1004 | Law and society I and II |
This course provides an introduction to the following topics for the purpose of liberal education and providing broad interdisciplinary knowledge on which the study of the relationship between law and society may be pursued in the context of various areas of substantive law taught in the LL.B. curriculum. The concept of `one country, two systems' will be borne in mind in teaching the course.
The topics may include: the history of Western political thought; the role of law in market and planned economies; property rights; the rise of the modern liberal constitutional state, including the concepts of state, government, liberalism, democracy, socialism, Marxism, human rights, constitutionalism, and major forms of government in the contemporary world; the role of the legal profession and courts in society; the Chinese legal and cultural traditions and their modernization.
| LLAW1005 and LLAW1006 | Law of tort I and II |
General principles of liability, negligence, defences to negligence, vicarious liability, loss distribution, fatal accidents, duty of care towards employees, statutory compensation for employees, breach of statutory duty, occupiers' liability, nuisance, Rylands v. Fletcher, trespass to person, trespass to property, other intentional torts to person and property, defences to trespass, defamation, other interests protected by the law of tort, remedies (damages and injunction).
| LLAW2001 and LLAW2002 | Constitutional and administrative law I and II |
The nature and characteristics of constitutions; constitutional doctrines : constitutionalism, the rule of law, the separation of powers, judicial review, autonomy, democracy, and human rights protection; the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and their inter-relationship; comparison of the constitution of Hong Kong with the territory's colonial constitution and constitutions in other parts of the world; the relationship between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Central Government of the People's Republic of China; the executive, legislative and judicial organs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and their inter-relationships; human rights protection in Hong Kong; the prospect of constitutionalism in Hong Kong; judicial review of administrative action; control of law-making by delegates; the ombudsman; administrative appeals.
| LLAW2003 and LLAW2004 | Criminal law I and II |
Classification of crimes; general principles of criminal responsibility; degree of participation; attempt.
Particular crimes: until further notice, the following particular crimes will be studied in detail - homicide, assaults, theft, forgery and Prevention of Bribery Ordinance offences.
| LLAW2005 and LLAW2006 | Property law I and II |
Introduction: concept of a proprietary interest; what is property law; classification of property; the nature of a trust.
Ownership, title and possession: legal ownership; title; tenure and estates; equitable interests; possession-recovery and protection of possession; adverse possession.
Priority: doctrine of notice; statutory intervention (e.g. land registration); subrogation.
Creation and transfer of proprietary interests in land: creation; assignment; intervention of equity (e.g. Walsh v Lonsdale, part performance, estoppel, constructive and resulting trusts).
Future interests: remainders and reversions: trusts for sale; vested and contingent interest; rules against inalienability.
Concurrent interests: joint tenancy and tenancy in common; severance; termination.
Leases: nature of leases; relationship of landlord and tenant; termination; statutory intervention.
Easements: nature; creation and determination.
Licences: revocability; enforceability.
Covenants: between landlord and tenant; between adjoining and co-owners; role in use and management of land.
Security interests: mortgages; charges; pledges; liens.
| LLAW2007 and LLAW2008 | Equity and Introduction to Trusts I and II |
History and nature of equity; equitable obligations (fiduciary obligations, breach of confidence other than trade secrets); equitable remedies (account, recession, compensation, Lord Cairns' Act, injunction).
History and nature of trusts; creation of express trusts (the three certainties, formal requirements, constitution of trusts); offshore trusts; pension trusts in Hong Kong; administration of trusts; variation of trusts; the duties of trustees and rights of beneficiaries; liability for breach of trust, personal and proprietary; resulting and constructive trusts.
9-credit Courses
| LLAW1007 | Legal Skills |
How to read and use cases; a brief history of law reports; the law reports of Hong Kong and other common law jurisdictions; finding cases in law reports; reading and finding statutes; the rules and practices of statutory interpretation; the use of reference work for lawyers; finding and using materials in law journals; an introduction to computers, e-mail and the internet; the implications of the "information society"; using electronic research materials in law; using international legal materials; conceptualizing research questions, formulating strategies and tackling research problems; the correct citation of legal materials and the avoidance of plagiarism; planning and organizing written work; and introduction to legal drafting.
The teaching method will rely more on "hands-on" exercises rather than instruction. Many of the skills developed in the course, including those of group work, are "life skills" as well as work and study skills, and are intended to lay the foundation for life-long learning.
6-credit Courses
| LLAW1008 | The legal system |
An overview of legal systems (types and components of legal systems, classification of law, sources of law, and the background to the Hong Kong legal system); the ideology of the Hong Kong legal system (justice, the rule of law, and the separation of powers doctrine); the structure of the courts; the jury system; legislative bodies; sources of law (the meaning and theory of the common law and its present reception in the SAR, local "Chinese law and custom" or "customary law", mainland Chinese law, statute law); the legal profession and legal services; the Secretary of Justice; an introduction to criminal and civil procedure.
| LLAW3001 | Introduction to legal theory |
The nature of law and laws: the central questions of legal theory, the relationship between law and morality, the function of law in society, the concepts and techniques used in the operation of developed legal systems.
Legal positivism: the command theory of law: Bentham and Austin; Hart's concept of law; Kelsen's pure theory of law.
Natural law and natural rights: Finnis, Dworkin, the nature of rights.
Legal realism; historical jurisprudence; legal reasoning; the future of the law in Hong Kong.
| LLAW3005 | Administrative law |
This course is an advanced course in administrative law, which will examine a number of selected topics in depth.
The topics which may be included in the course in any particular year include theories of administrative decision-making, judicial review of administrative action (ultra vires and procedural fairness), delegated legislation, administrative law remedies, the practical aspects of bringing an action for judicial review under Order 53 of the Rules of the Supreme Court, non-curial means of control and scrutiny of administrative action, the structure and operation of administrative tribunals in Hong Kong, the Bill of Rights and review of administrative decision-making in Hong Kong, and access to information.
The course in Constitutional and administrative law I & II (or its equivalent) is a prerequisite for enrolment in this course.
| LLAW3006 | Admiralty |
Introduction: maritime law; the Hong Kong legislation; public control of shipping and navigation in Hong Kong waters; control of marine pollution.
The ship: the ship as property; registration; purchase and sale; ship mortgages; liens; construction, maintenance and equipment; master and crew.
The running of the ship: contract of passage; contract of affreightment; charter-parties; loading and discharge; bills of lading; exclusion and limitation of liability; the Hague Rules; general average.
Navigation, safety at sea and collisions: the collision regulations; Hong Kong harbour regulations; collisions and liability for damage; limitation of liability.
Salvage, towage and wreck.
Marine insurance: history; course of business at Lloyds; insurable interest; indemnity; utmost good faith; types of policy; perils insured against; contents of policies; losses and other incidents of liability; rights of insurers; assignment of policies; mutual insurance.
| LLAW3007 | Alternative dispute resolution |
This course will examine the traditional methods of dispute resolution such as judicial adjudication, and consider alternative dispute resolution from a Hong Kong perspective.
This course is composed of two main parts:
| (a) | an introduction to traditional methods of dispute resolution and a critique of their advantages and disadvantages; and | |
| (b) | an examination of alternative dispute resolution methods, which will cover the following: | |
| (i) | the origin and development of the alternative dispute resolution movement, and | |
| (ii) | an in-depth study of the following methods: confidential private listening; negotiation, mediation and conciliation; arbitration; good offices/ombudsman; mini-trials/summary jury trails; private courts and dispute resolution centres. | |
| LLAW3008 | Bank security |
Lending and securities: the role of banks in trade and other financing; lending criteria; forms of securities; securities over goods and documents of title to goods including pledges, hypothecation and liens; financing of international trade including letters of credit, documentary bills of exchange, letters of guarantee and performance bonds; effect of Bills of Sale legislation; guarantees and sureties; set-off; fixed and floating charges; enforcement and realization of securities; general discussion of loan documentation.
Duties of banker in taking securities: undue influence; mistake; misrepresentation; duties to inform or disclose to customer and third parties.
Court proceedings affecting banker: garnishee proceedings; Mareva injunctions; disclosure orders; insolvency of customer; banker's liability as constructive trustee; jurisdiction and conflict of laws especially in regard to international banking.
(Note: Unless exempted, candidates are required to have taken Banking law before taking this course.)
| LLAW3009 | Banking law |
Introduction: history of banking; outline of banking organization, control and regulation of financial institutions in Hong Kong; distinction drawn between banks and other deposit-taking institutions.
Banker-customer relationship: nature of the relationship and its development; meaning of `customer' and types of accounts; banker's rights as against customer including appropriation of payment, lien and set-off; duties of banker including secrecy and payment of customers' cheques; implied duties of the customer; contractual attempts to modify such duties; supply of references; banker as adviser; determination of relationship.
Paper-based funds transfers: general principles in law relating to choses in action and their assignment; negotiable instruments especially cheques; money paid by mistake; forgery; direct debits; credit transfers.
Electronic funds transfers and other modern banking developments: nature and operation of various means of electronic funds transfers including consumer-related and non-consumer-related transfers; legal implications of such transfers; revocability and finality of payment instructions; standing orders; cheque cards; credit cards.
| LLAW3010 | Business associations |
Outline of different types of business associations.
Partnership: their nature and creation and the rights and duties of the partner inter se and vis-a-vis third parties.
Registered companies: their development and nature; problems relating to incorporation; separate corporate personality; limited liability; memorandum and articles of association; ultra vires doctrine; an overview of membership, management and control.
| LLAW3012 | Civil litigation |
Introduction to civil procedure: an overview of the civil process including preliminary considerations before action, commencement, parties, pleadings, discovery, motions, pre-emptive strikes, trial, appeal, enforcement of judgments; judicial review, administrative litigation and other variations.
Introduction to advocacy: a consideration of how a party's legal position is presented, including theories and strategies of litigation, viva voce and other types of evidence, oral argument and appellate advocacy, negotiation and settlement, ethical considerations.
Critique of the trial process: an examination of the traditional adversarial process including adversarial and non-adversarial systems in other jurisdictions, and various forms of alternative dispute resolution within the adversarial context.
| LLAW3013 | Commercial law I |
Sale of goods: formation and subject matter of contract; duties of seller: title, quality, quantity, delivery; duties of buyer: transfer of property and risk; frustration and other discharge; seller's remedies; buyer's remedies.
Acquisition of goods from non-owner: nemo dat and exceptions.
| LLAW3014 | Commercial law II |
Consumer protection: product liability; statutory duties; exemption clauses and control thereof.
Personal property security interest: retention of title, hire-purchase, finance lease, sale and mortgage hire back, chattel mortgage, etc.
Carriage and storage of goods: general introduction with emphasis on carriers and warehousemen as bailees.
| LLAW3015 | Company law |
Capital: the nature and types of capital; raising, maintenance and reduction of capital; shares: transfer and registration, purchase by a company and financial assistance for purchase of its own shares; dividends, distributable profits.
Corporate borrowing: debentures, company charges, floating charges, registration, remedies of charge.
The governance of a company: members, general meetings; directors, the position and duties of directors; board meetings; conflict of interest; majority rule, minority protection; external regulation, disclosure, notifications, annual return, audits, inspections and investigations.
Corporate failure: reconstructions and schemes and winding-up (overview).
Listed companies: regulation; public issues; mergers, acquisitions and takeovers.
| LLAW3017 | Copyright law |
Economic, social and other justifications for copyright protection.
Requirements for copyright protection under the relevant copyright statutes.
Rights subsisting under a copyright and its infringement.
The law relating to industrial designs.
Reforms of copyright law.
Comparative study of copyright law in the People's Republic of China and/or Taiwan.
| LLAW3018 | Criminology |
Criminology involves a study of the phenomenon of crime and will involve a consideration of the following areas: the definition and nature of crime; the justification and theories of punishment; the various schools which provide perspectives on the understanding of the etiology of crime; the treatment of the offender and crime prevention and control.
| LLAW3019 | Current legal controversies |
The main objective of this course is to examine two or more topical legal issues in Hong Kong and place them in their social and political context. This will both encourage a more profound understanding of `law in action' in specified areas, and serve as an opportunity to bring students up to date in subjects they have studied, but which may have changed in important respects since they studied them. It also allows for a broader analysis of legal problems, their genesis, development and effect than is possible in other courses. This analysis seeks where possible to straddle the borders of discrete law subjects and to consider the general question of the reform of the law.
| LLAW3020 | Economic analysis of law |
The course will begin with a brief review of the major forms of law and economics scholarship. Introduction to basic concepts such as moral hazard, adverse selection, collective action, free ride, prisoner's dilemma, tragedy of the commons, and externalities will be provided during the beginning of the course. Thereafter, discussion will enter into areas such as contracts, property, torts, corporations, and collective decision making. The course will end with the major criticisms of the law and economics scholarship.
The course is not designed to teach law per se in any of these areas, but instead uses examples from these areas to highlight the economic tools and concepts and to show their usefulness in many areas of the law.
| LLAW3021 | Fundamentals of evidence and trial procedure |
What may be proved: facts in issue; relevance; admissibility and weight.
Functions of judge and jury: who decides; judicial discretion.
Burden of proof: standard of proof; presumptions.
Methods of proof: oral testimony; documentary evidence; real evidence, proof without evidence.
Oral testimony: competence, compellability of witnesses; questioning of witnesses including rules re previous consistent statements, refreshment of memory and collateral issues; corroboration of witnesses; identification evidence.
Hearsay: scope, rationale, problem areas.
Common law exceptions to hearsay: informal admissions especially confessions; other common law exceptions.
Statutory exceptions to hearsay: criminal; civil including Supreme Court Rules.
Evidence of character of parties.
Private privilege.
Public interest immunity.
(Note: The course is concerned with fundamentals only. Some topics will be dealt with very briefly, for example, public interest immunity, judicial notice similar facts evidence. In-depth study of these and other specialist areas is reserved for the course Issues in evidence and trial procedure.)
| LLAW3022 | Human rights in Hong Kong |
History of enactment, the Bill of Rights Regime, interpretation, scope of application, inter-citizen rights, locus standi, permissible limitations, derogation and reservation, enforcement and remedy.
Study of selected rights, including impact on civil and criminal process, right to a fair and public trial, arrest, search and seizure, torture and degrading treatment, liberty and security of person, freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression, right to nationality, right to family, right to political participation, discrimination and equality.
| LLAW3023 | Insolvency law |
The law of bankruptcy, and of winding up and dissolution of companies, and the recovery of debts generally. Acts of bankruptcy, commencement, the petition, bankruptcy of a firm, appointment of a receiver, adjudication, compositions and schemes of arrangement, consequences of bankruptcy, criminal bankruptcy, disabilities, discharge.
The failure of a company's business from the directors' and members' view-point, the decision to wind up and consequences of delay, the effect of prior receivership and the claims of secured creditors on winding up in general.
Winding up by the Court, the petition, winding up orders and their consequences, the role of the liquidator. Voluntary winding up, its general procedures and consequences, preferential debts, effect of winding up on antecedent and other transactions, proof of debts, dissolution, the lawyer's role.
| LLAW3024 | Insurance law |
Regulation of the insurance industry, types of insurance, indemnity and non-indemnity insurance, definition of insurance, the insurance contract, renewal, indemnity, contribution, subrogation, insurable interest, the duty of utmost good faith, disclosure, the proposal as the basis of the contract, promissory warranties, waiver, definition of the risk, limits of liability, exceptions and conditions, third parties rights against the insurer, motor insurance, employees compensation insurance.
| LLAW3025 | International commercial litigation |
The course will examine in depth a number of important public and private international law issues from the perspective of international commercial litigation.
The areas to be covered may include: introduction to litigation and procedure in Hong Kong, Mareva injunctions and Anton Piller orders, the jurisdiction of Hong Kong courts over persons, firms and corporations and in in rent actions, extended jurisdiction under RSC, Order 11, the exercise of discretion on the grounds of lis alibi pendens and forum non conveniens, choice of jurisdiction clauses, and res judicata. Reference will be made to the position in other countries, e.g. Australia, Canada, the USA and PRC, as well as in Europe under the Brussels and Lugano Conventions.
The course will also deal with the issue of state immunity, the taking of evidence in other jurisdictions, and the enforcement of foreign judgements and arbitral awards in Hong Kong under the common law and statutory regimes.
| LLAW3026 | International human rights |
The course will include a common element and an optional component. The common element is divided into two parts: (a) conceptual issues and (b) modalities for prescribing, invoking, appraising and implementing human rights. The first part will include an introduction to the concept of human rights and development of international human rights law. The second part will examine the techniques and procedures in protecting human rights, including reporting procedure, fact-finding commission, role and functions of various official institutions and non-governmental organizations, domestic absorption of international standards, sanctions and humanitarian intervention.
The optional component will vary from year to year, depending on teachers' expertise and students' interest. It will cover one or more of the following areas: (a) an in-depth study of one of the human rights conventions, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the Convention Against Torture or the Inter-American Convention of Human Rights, their modus operandi, cases and practices, and a critical appraisal of the system; (b) a study on contemporary international human rights issues, such as protection of minorities, non-discrimination, nationality and refugees; (c) a comparative study of constitutional protection of human rights in selected countries.
| LLAW3027 | International organizations |
International organizations: their developing importance especially in regional affairs; their constitutions; their law-making roles and methods; the importance of consensus, package deals and weighted votes; their status within the framework of international law.
A selection will be made from the following case studies:
|
The United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III); Regional economic organization: the Pacific Forum, the Organization of American States, the Organization of African Unity; Regional defence organization: NATO, the Warsaw Pact. |
| LLAW3028 | International trade law I |
International trade terms and the use of documents in export sales; contract issues in the international trade context; China trade comparisons; attempts at standardisation, codification and unification; Hong Kong regulation of international sales transactions; bills of exchange; collections; documentary credits; bank guarantees and performance bonds; export credit insurance.
| LLAW3029 | International trade law II |
Carriage by sea; carriage by air; multi-modal transport and containerisation; marine insurance; commercial arbitration regimes in Hong Kong and abroad; public regulation of international trade including aspects of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and Multi-fibre Agreement.
| LLAW3030 | Introduction to private international law |
This course is intended to provide a basic introduction to the area of conflict of laws. It will provide an overview of the nature and theories of the conflict of laws; fundamental concepts; classification, characterization and renvoi; domicile and the status of individuals and corporations; the jurisdiction of local courts; the recognition and enforcement of foreign law; procedure and proof of foreign law; and the harmonization of conflicts rules through international treaties.
Problems of the choice of law in a number of the following areas will be considered: contracts, torts, property and succession.
| LLAW3031 | Issues in evidence and trial procedure |
The course is intended to provide an opportunity for (a) in depth study of specialist areas of the law relating to evidence and procedure and (b) introducing students to different approaches towards problems of proof suggested by scholars in other disciplines, especially probability theory.
Topics for study will be selected on a yearly basis from the following list: expert evidence; pre-trial discovery in civil cases; similar facts evidence; police practices and a fair trial; public interest immunity; interrogatories and other forms of admission; the use of forensic science; probability theory and proof; comparative evidence and procedure; practical evidence - a simple case; admissibility/relevance of the confessions of third persons; evasions of the hearsay rule; features and problems of identification testimony; pre-trial and attrial experiments; reforms; codification, together with any current controversies or developments in the general area of evidence and procedure the teachers or students find appropriate or interesting.
(Note: Students enrolling for this course must have completed Fundamentals of evidence and trial procedure or an equivalent course.)
| LLAW3032 | Issues in family law |
Matrimonial Property (practice and procedure): rights and obligations of husband and wife and children at common law, in equity and under statute consequent upon marriage, divorce and nullity, non-disclosure and dissipation - protective remedies, consent orders.
Parent and child: adoption, wardship, new reproductive methods and surrogacy, child abuse, care proceedings.
(Note : Students enrolling for Issues in Family Law should preferably have taken Principles of family law.)
LLAW3033 Issues in intellectual property law
This course examines current controversial issues and problems in intellectual property law in the context of the circumstances of Hong Kong, with reference but not limited to the following areas:
|
The concept of unfair competition, particularly in relation to comparative advertising and character merchandising. Passing off action and other economic torts. Registration of trade marks relating to goods and trade marks relating to services. Protection of confidence and privacy, and any possible interaction with the Bill of Rights. Patents: requirements for grant and infringement. |
| LLAW3034 | Labour law |
The scope and sources of labour law.
The contract of employment: formation; obligations of parties, express and implied; termination and suspension of the contract and remedies for breach; restraint of trade; apprenticeship.
Statutes affecting employment terms in regard to formal requirements, wages, notice of termination; suspension, lay-off and redundancy; hours of work, rest days and holidays; children, young persons and women; the Labour Tribunal.
The employer's responsibility for the safety of his employees; negligence and breach of statutory duty; health, safety and welfare and other conditions of work in industry; enforcement; employees compensation.
The law of collective relations (in outline only).
| LLAW3036 | Law, justice and ideology |
Social theory and the sociology of law: Pound, Erlich, Durkheim, Weber; law and social change.
Law as ideology: law and power, Marxist theories of law and state, critical legal studies.
Theories of justice: utilitarianism, the economic analysis of law, Rawls, Nozick, Hayek.
| LLAW3037 | Law of agency |
The nature and creation of agency relationship; the relationship and rights and duties of principal and agent inter se and vis-a-vis third parties; comparison of the ability of the 'agent' to affect the 'principal's' legal position in contract, tort and property.
| LAW3038 | Legal fictions: representations of the law in literature, philosophy and cinema |
This course will examine the representation of law in a variety of contexts: literary, philosophical and cinematic. Issues such as justice, rights, the Rule of Law, positivism, the language of the law, the trial and the role of the profession will be canvassed through 'texts' as varied as Plato's Republic, Sophocles's Antigone, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener, Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (or, alternatively, Bleak House), Kafka's The Trial (or Before the Law), Dworkin's Law's Empire, Foucault's Discipline and Punish, Witness for the Prosecution, Judgment at Nuremberg and perhaps a sampling of various television series ('Rumpole', 'L.A. Law'', 'Perry Mason', 'Street Legal' and possibly that series that was stranger than fiction, the OJ Simpson trial).
How the law is 'imagined' by these various 'texts' constitutes an important social document, unlocking, to a certain extent, the values -- moral, political, juridical -- of the culture that produced the document. But this course will argue that these representations of the law do more than just 'hold up a mirror to nature'; indeed, they force us to rethink the law, reconceiving it, as well, as a representation -- in short , a text, subject to the same conventions of aesthetic representation. So the course will conclude by examining actual legal judgments, and how those judgments are informed by narrative conventions, plot structures, novelistic characterization and constitutive metaphors.
| LLAW3040 | Medico-legal issues |
This course examines overlapping issues in law and medicine in medical, legal and philosophical contexts. The aim is to study a variety of problems of life, death and consent to treatment. Students are expected to argue about problems from a variety of viewpoints including ethical argument. The issues considered will include the following:
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Issues of life: e.g. the new reproductive technology; Medical treatment: e.g. consent to treatment; Issues of death: e.g. euthanasia. |
| LLAW3042 | Planning and environmental law |
Planning and building law in Hong Kong; control of development in urban and country areas by Crown lease restrictions, legislation and subsidiary legislation; the role of the Housing Authority; the part common-law remedies can play.
Land resumption and compensation: the statutory provisions; compensation for resumption; the Lands Tribunal; exgratia compensation; the New Territories and the letter B system.
Environmental law: the statutory and regulatory framework in Hong Kong; the administrative and procedural controls; the common law and pollution.
| LLAW3043 | Principles of family law |
Marriage: Customary marriage and marriage under the marriage ordinance, essential and formal validity, nullity and divorce, domestic violence.
Financial provision (in outline only): periodical payments, lump sum and property settlement on divorce.
Child custody: legitimacy, guardianship.
| LLAW3044 | Public international law |
Topics will include some of the following: introduction to the nature of international law and its historical development; sources of international law; the relationship between international and municipal law; the subjects of international law; the concept of sovereignty and state recognition; state jurisdiction; the acquisition and loss of territory; state responsibility; state succession; treaties and other international legal agreements; the pacific settlement of disputes; the use of force; international institutions; human rights.
The above is intended merely as a guide to the general nature of the subject matter to be covered. Special reference will be made throughout to considerations which are particularly relevant in the Hong Kong and Southeast Asian contexts.
| LLAW3045 | Remedies |
Damages: purpose, assessment and entitlement to damages at common law; remoteness of damages in contract and tort; damages for personal injury; damages in equity.
Specific performance: nature of the remedy; specific performance as an alternative to damages; supervision of the performance; discretionary consideration.
Injunctions: equitable origins of the injunction; power to grant injunctions; the different types of injunction; penalties for failure to comply with an injunction.
Other equitable remedies: declarations; restitution; rescission; rectification; account; delivery-up and cancellation of documents; receivers.
Defences to equitable remedies: the maxims of equity; the overriding discretion of the court.
| LLAW3046 | The child and the law |
Special attention to be given to the law relating to the child by examining the increasing importance of the child in family law. Evaluation of law governing parent and child relationship; the concept of parental rights and duties; the emergence of children's rights; the relationship between the child and the state; child protection under municipal and international law.
| LLAW3047 | The Hong Kong Basic Law |
The background to the Basic Law (the Joint Declaration and the process of drafting and agreeing on the Basic Law), basic Chinese and British constitutional concepts relevant to an understanding of the structure and orientation of the Basic Law, the relationship of the Basic Law to the Chinese Constitution, the relationship between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Chinese central government, the institutional structure of the Hong Kong SAR, especially the relationship between the executive and the legislature, the concept and special aspects of 'one country, two systems' (e.g. the economic system preserved in the Basic Law), human rights, judicial review and constitutional litigation.
| LLAW3049 | The law of the sea |
This course will examine some of the important issues in the law of the sea originating from customary international law and law-making treaties, most notably the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The course will discuss such maritime zones as internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zones, exclusive economic zones, the high seas, continental shelf, and international seabed areas. It will then consider rules and issues relating to various uses of the various sea zones, such as fishing, deep seabed mining, navigation and communication, marine scientific research, regulation of marine pollution, marine boundary disputes, military uses of the sea, and settlement of marine disputes. The course will also examine the interrelationship between international law and domestic law with respect to maritime matters. Relevant Chinese law will be taken into proper account.
| LLAW3051 | Selected problems of international law |
A detailed examination of selected issues of international law in areas such as international environmental law, international criminal law, law of treaties, international economic law, law of the sea, law of war and humanitarian law, air and space law, international organizations and settlement of international disputes.
| LLAW3052 | Shipping law |
This course will examine the law relating to the carriage of goods by sea. Particular emphasis will be placed on charterparties (time, voyage, and demise), recent issues affecting bills of lading, exclusion and limitation of liability, demurrage, freight, liens and damages.
| LLAW3053 | Sociology of law |
The main objective of the course is to provide a general introduction to the sociological study of law. It attempts to develop an understanding of law in its social context by examining social theories of law and empirical research relating to law in contemporary industrialized societies, including Hong Kong.
In seeking to explore the operation of law in action, the course first explores the theories and typologies of Durkheim and Weber with particular emphasis on problems of legitimacy, ideology, and social solidarity.
Specific sociologically significant features of the law are then considered. These include: the legal profession; the functions of courts; the enforcement of law by the police; the Rule of Law.
| LLAW3054 | Succession |
The law relating to the validity, construction, revocation and operation of wills and the rules governing intestate succession; family provision, the nature and purpose of the office of executor and administrator.
| LLAW3056 | Foundations in International Financial Law |
The course will examine, primarily from a legal perspective but with interdisciplinary dimensions, the structure and operation of international financial markets. The course will cover domestic, regional and international regulation of international securities offerings and international banking, a comparative study of the regulation of financial institutions within the United States and within the European Union (including the impact of the EMU), aspects of international financial transactions such as Eurodollar syndicated loans, Eurobond offerings, international securitizations, derivatives, swaps, project finance and privatisation, and the operation of and legal issues relating to foreign exchange market-payment systems. Recent financial systems problems of Japan, Korea, Thailand and Mexico will also be considered.
| LLAW3057 | International criminal law |
This course will examine the development of the concepts of international criminal law. The topics to be discussed will include : the development of individual responsibility under international law for international crimes, including the availability of the defence of superior orders; the definition of war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace; the results of efforts to define the broader category of international crimes or crimes against international law (including the work of the International Law Commission and the International Law Association); specific international crimes, such as genocide, piracy, and terrorism; the mechanisms of enforcement in relation to international criminal acts, including the work of the Nuremberg and Tokyo war crime tribunals and the tribunals established by the United Nations in relation to former Yugoslavia and Rwanda; the establishment and role of the International Criminal Court; the implementation and enforcement of international criminal law at the national level, including under the law of Mainland China and the Hong Kong SAR.
The course will seek to examine these matters from a political and historical, as well as a legal perspective and will consider recent feminist critiques of the developments in the area. The course may also examine a number of aspects of Hong Kong extradition law and practice, in particular as they relate to offences covered by international treaties.
Some knowledge of public international law would be helpful, though it is not required.
| LLAW3061 | Law, the individual and the community : a cross-cultural dialogue |
This course is a "global classroom" course centred on dialogue amongst parallel classes at universities in a number of countries (including Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Finland and the USA) by means primarily of Internet-based communications technology. The course deals with competing ideas about the appropriate relationship between individual and community and the role of law in regulating that relationship. A special concern is to explore the extent to which human rights are an indispensable and universally-desirable aspect of such legal regulation. Are there reasons to believe that either the idea of human rights or the content attributed to some human rights cannot be justified as appropriate for all societies in all contexts? In order to provide a context for the dialogue amongst the students in the different universities, selected cases and scenarios from international human rights law (as well as some comparative constitutional case law) provide the concrete focus for exploring the broader theme. The issues to be examined are likely to include (though will not necessarily be restricted to) the death penalty, preventive detention, sexuality, corporal punishment, parent and child relationship, and freedom of expression.
The course will involve regular meetings of the class in Hong Kong, together with participation by students in discussions with their counterparts in other countries for 8 weeks during the semester. This discussion will be based around the common themes and reading being considered simultaneously by each of the classes during that period. The main form of communication technology used to link the students is an Internet website discussion group (a series of "conferences"), hosted by the Bora Laskin Law Library at the University of Toronto, with a back-up site at the National University of Singapore. Students will be required to contribute to the conferences on a weekly basis as part of the course. The co-instructors at the different institutions will moderate general conferences involving all students from all the participating universities.
[Note : This course was originally conceptualised and implemented by Professor Craig Scott of the University of Toronto and Professor Kevin Tan, of the National of University of Singapore. The course description above is based largely on their course description and appears with their permission.]
| LLAW3062 | Human Rights in China |
This course will examine the international and domestic dimensions of the protection of human rights in the People's Republic of China. It will examine the applicability of international human rights standards to the PRC, the stance of the PRC in relation to international national mechanisms for the protection of human rights, and the place of international standards in domestic law. The course will consider the theoretical debates about the origin and contingency of human rights standards, questions of priorities in human rights, and the issue of rights in Chinese cultural contexts. It will also examine the extent of human rights protections available under the Chinese constitution and other laws, and will focus on selected issues, which may include the criminal justice system, freedom of expression, freedon of association, freedom of religion, labour rights, gender discrimination, and minorities/self-determination. The course will also examine the social and political forces that may contribute to the improvement of human rights in China.
| LLAW3063 | Emerging Markets : Finance and Investment |
Consideration of the fundamental regulatory and contractual aspects of financing and investment in developing countries and transitioning economies. Specific subject matter will include the role of law in economic reforms, financial sector reforms in emerging economies, basics of infrastructure financing from the countries perspective, debt rescheduling, privatization, regulation of foreign direct investment and related dispute resolution considerations from the emerging countries perspective.
| 18230. | Trusts |
Creation of equitable interests under settlements and trusts; powers of appointment; discretionary trusts; constructive and resulting trusts; charitable trusts.
The nature and purpose of the office of trustee; his rights, duties and liabilities, appointment, retirement and remuneration.
The administration of solvent and insolvent estates; the remedies of beneficiaries and the control of the court over trusts and trustees.
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