HKU Bulletin December 2014 (Vol. 16 No.1)

Professor Michael Hor Yew-meng became Dean of Law on July 1, a day that saw hordes of people protest on the street for greater democracy in Hong Kong. Some members of his Faculty are organisers of the Occupy Central movement to increase democracy, others advocate a more conservative approach. Professor Hor himself was busy getting moved in on that day, but the former National University of Singapore (NUS) Professor has taken a keen interest in the debate. He has no choice. “The press keeps trying to draw me into one camp or the other,” he lamented. “What I consistently tell them is, what’s the point of me saying I support Occupy Central or I support Beijing? Is it going to solve the problem? Obviously it’s not. “What the Faculty has done and should continue to do is to preserve freedom of speech and thought, and academic freedom, and maintain a liberal atmosphere so all these different ideas can be developed and flourish and contend with each other.” That non-partisan approach stops short, however, when it comes to Hong Kong’s legal system. The release in June of a White Paper on Hong Kong’s administration contained statements by Beijing that many regarded as undermining the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. Efforts have since been made to soften the blows, but the legal profession harbours deep concerns. “If indeed there is no intention to affect Hong Kong’s legal system in this way, then clear and unequivocal reassurances ought to be made to that effect in order to restore the confidence of the legal profession and the public,” Professor Hor said. “Confidence in the immutability of these features of the Hong Kong legal system is essential to the well-being and prosperity of the region.” Mutual love Professor Hor has long experience defending legal integrity after 25 years at NUS, where he was an outspoken and respected critic of the Singapore criminal justice system. The fact he is an outsider with knowledge of Hong Kong – as Visiting Professor in the Faculty in 2008 and 2013 and Advisor to the Centre for Comparative and Public Law – means he can step back and look at the bigger picture. “I don’t think of Hong Kong and China as separate. If you love China, how can you not love Hong Kong, and if you love Hong Kong how can you not love China? It’s not entirely outside our experience. Think of federal countries like the United States. Texas doesn’t like Obama or the federal government, but it is part of America and it is possible to love Texas and love America. Most sensible people manage both,” he said. That sense of balance is well established in the Faculty where differing views jostle alongside each other and the range of legal expertise includes Hong Kong, China and the rest of the world. International connections “I look at what the Faculty has been doing and I see a general theme of a certain internationalisation and engagement with other jurisdictions. It’s always been there but it has intensified. Traditionally the Faculty’s primary ties have been with England, Australia, New Zealand, but not so much the United States, and countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia, where we can leverage our twin competencies in civil and common law. Maybe that’s something we can work on. “China itself is assumed. It’s like having breakfast in the morning. We have a very strong core of Chinese lawyers here and probably the strongest pool of experts in Chinese law outside China. I will be discussing with them very closely how we can enrich, enlarge and deepen the programme we already have.” These strengths were built up under his predecessor, Professor Johannes Chan, and Professor Hor is full of praise for the strong advances made under his 12 year-long deanship. He is now sounding out people inside and outside the Faculty on how to keep that momentum going. One thing he hopes to achieve is to draw on his specialty in criminal justice systems and develop this as a focus of study, and in the long term to establish an Asian network of criminal justice scholars and practitioners to discuss and research shared issues such as cross-border crime and terrorism. In the meantime, the Malaysian-born scholar will focus on settling in with a new team and a new office and contributing to a smooth transition for the Faculty and, hopefully, Hong Kong. Professor Hor attending the Mass Orientation by the Law Association on August 27. Professor Michael Hor (right) and Mr Stephen Hung (left), President of the Law Society of Hong Kong, at the Faculty of Law’s Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) Opening Ceremony. What the Faculty has done and should continue to do is to preserve freedom of speech and thought, and academic freedom, and maintain a liberal atmosphere so all these different ideas can be developed and flourish and contend with each other. Professor Michael Hor Yew-meng Caught In The Mid-Stream The new Dean of Law has arrived at one of the most contentious times in Hong Kong’s recent history, when positions are hardening over the city’s political development. The question he faces from all quarters: Where do you stand? 32 | 33 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin | December 2014 People