The Future of Hong Kong’s Separate Legal System under the National Security Law

Professor Donald Clarke (Professor of Law and David A. Weaver Research Professor at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C)

Topic

The imposition of the National Security Law on Hong Kong on June 30, 2020 has raised many questions in the minds of Hong Kong residents and concerned observers abroad. This talk will focus on the unique enforcement structure established by the law in the police, the prosecution, and the judiciary, as well as the special powers allotted to mainland Chinese bodies. It will also discuss the much-discussed issue of the law’s extraterritorial reach. Finally, it will look at what we might expect in the future on the basis of two months’ experience with the law as well as what we know about law enforcement practices on the mainland.

Biography

Donald Clarke is Professor of Law and David A. Weaver Research Professor at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he specializes in modern Chinese law. In addition to his academic work, he founded and maintains Chinalaw, the leading internet listserv on Chinese law and writes The China Collection blog. He has also served as an expert witness on Chinese law matters in a number of legal cases, and has advised organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Professor Clarke holds an A.B. degree from Princeton University, an M.Sc. degree from the School of Oriental & African Studies of the University of London (SOAS), and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Organiser: SOAS China Institute

Contact email: sci@soas.ac.uk

Contact Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4823