Academic Staff
Simon N. M. Young 楊艾文
Professor and Director, Centre for Comparative and Public Law;
Co-Director, Asia-America Institute in Transnational Law
B.ArtsSc. (McMaster), LL.B. (Toronto), LL.M. (Cantab.), Barrister & Solicitor (Ontario), Barrister at Parkside Chambers (Hong Kong)
Email | Research Profile | CV | HKU ResearcherPage | SSRN |
Professor Simon Young is the Director of the Faculty's Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Deputy Director/Director of Research in the Department of Law, and a practising Hong Kong barrister. He teaches criminal law and evidence in the Faculty's J.D. programme and a LL.M. course on human rights in the criminal process. He is known internationally for his scholarship on the Hong Kong political and legal systems, and the forfeiture of proceeds of crime. His book, Civil Forfeiture of Criminal Property (Edward Elgar 2009), is one of the leading works on the topic of forfeiture.
His public policy research projects have focused on a wide range of topics including anti-corruption law, money laundering, proceeds of crime, security and anti-terrorism laws, public sector disciplinary processes, screening processes for asylum seekers, laws for electing Hong Kong's legislators and Chief Executive, and Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal.
As counsel, he has advised on a number of important constitutional and public law cases. He has advised the Hong Kong Government on its Convention Against Torture screening mechanism and has led the Continuing Legal Education programme in the Prosecutions Division of the Hong Kong Department of Justice since 2011. He is a member of the Review Body on Bid Challenges under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, Post-Release Supervision Board, and Disciplinary Panel A of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He served on the Hong Kong Law Reform Commission subcommittees on double jeopardy and hearsay in criminal proceedings and was a member of the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s Observers Scheme.
Prior to joining the Faculty, Professor Young worked in Toronto as appellate counsel in the Crown Law Office-Criminal, Ministry of the Attorney General for Ontario, and before that as Assistant Crown Attorney in Hamilton, Ontario, where he prosecuted persons for sexual assaults, domestic assault, fraud, manslaughter and other offences.
Specialized Areas: Hong Kong Political and Legal System, Human Rights in the Criminal Process, Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime, White Collar Crime
