Honorary University Fellows
Citation delivered by Professor Johannes CHAN, Dean of Law
A barrister, Senior Counsel and an Honorary Lecturer in the HKU Department of Professional Legal Education, Mr Kenneth Hing Wai Kwok SC is also a close friend and staunch supporter of the Faculty of Law.
Mr Kwok is a graduate of HKU, receiving his LLB in 1972, his PCLL in 1973, and was called to the bar in 1974. Since then he has a distinguished career. Mr Kwok was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1993, Senior Counsel in 1997, awarded a Bronze Bauhinia Star in 2006 and appointed Justice of the Peace in 2009 for his relentless public service.
In his over thirty years of service in the legal profession, Mr Kwok has served as a Deputy District Judge, a Deputy High Court Judge, a Recorder of the Court of First Instance, and is currently the Chairman of the Board of Review under the Inland Revenue Ordinance.
Mr Kwok takes a strong interest in legal education. He was a member of the Advisory Committee on Legal Education under the Legal Practitioners Ordinance from 1995 to 2004, and has been, since 2005, a member of the Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training, which is a statutory body responsible for all matters relating to legal education in Hong Kong. In all these capacities, the University has benefited greatly from Mr Kwok's ongoing interest in legal education and his guidance in the University's reform of the PCLL programme. He is a member of the Joint Examinations Board of the PCLL, of the HKU Faculty Board and of the HKU PCLL Academic Board.
Mr Kwok is also one of the University's most active alumni leaders, and was President of the HKU Law Alumni Association from 2003 to 2006. And it is in this context that the formidable legal figure has revealed a softer side: his enthusiastic commitment to nurturing our students and helping them make the most of their individual potential.
During his Presidency of the Law Alumni Association, Mr Kwok established and strengthened various programmes for the University's law students, including creating various opportunities for alumni, legal practitioners and members of the Judiciary to share their expertise and experience with the law students.
These sharing sessions were extremely successful, and have become an integral component of the Law Mentorship Scheme, which is now also an important Faculty activity, with over 130 participating mentors.
Hence it gives me great pleasure, Mr Pro-Chancellor, to present Mr Kenneth Hing Wai Kwok SC for the Honorary University Fellowship, in recognition of his contributions to Hong Kong and academia.