Lecture: Common Law System and the Rule of Law (by Mr. Cheung Yiu-Leung)

November 28, 2014 - Mr. Cheung Yiu-Leung, Barrister-at-law, visited the Institute for Human Rights of CUPL and delivered an excellent speech to the first-year master's students in the Institute's reference room. Several Ph.D. students attended the lecture.

The lecture was focused on the common law system and the rule of law. 

Mr. Cheung stared with a brief introduction into the history of the UK. He mentioned the great influence that the UK had exerted to Hong Kong during the colonial period. Hong Kong has transplanted almost all of its today's law system and the idea of the rule of law from the UK. 

Mr. Cheune also introduced some fundamental notions of the rule of law, such as “Adherence to and Application of the law”, “The Accessibility of the law” and so on. 

After that, Mr. Cheung proceeded to the topic of the law and human rights. He underlined the importance of freedom of thought and expression naming them the priority rights. He also shared the view that death penalty shall be absolutely prohibited. Fourthly, Mr. Cheung talked about the procedural justice and notions of the legal professional activity in Hong Kong. He focused on the relationship between the lawyer and the justice, and also introduced the Coroners court to the students.

From the beginning to the end, the students showed great interest in the lecture and raised a lot of questions. Mr. Cheung responded patiently and generously. After the meeting, the participants took a group photo.

By hefei