Cora Chan 陳秀慧
The Department of Law
Associate Professor
Deputy Head, Department of Law
Programme Director, Bachelor of Laws
BSocSc (Government and Laws) (HKU); LLB (HKU); BCL (Oxon)
Biography
Cora Chan’s research interests are in constitutional theory, human rights and public law. Her works on judicial deference have been the subject of a number of awards, including the 2012 Society of Legal Scholars Best Paper Prize and the 2012-2013 University of Hong Kong Research Output Prize. In 2013, Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council awarded her the Early Career Award on top of a competitive grant in recognition of the excellent quality of her grant proposal. In 2017, she (with Fiona de Londras, Birmingham) were awarded a British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grants.
Cora is on the General Council of the International Society of Public Law, the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Journal of Constitutional Law, and the editorial boards of Hong Kong Law Journal and Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law. She was awarded the Outstanding Young Researcher Award in 2017-2018 and the Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award in 2013-2014.
Cora is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong’s double degree programme in law and political science. Upon completion of the programme, she attended Brasenose College at the University of Oxford, where she obtained the BCL degree and was awarded the Ralph Chiles CBE Prize in Human Rights.
Research Areas
- Human Rights
- Public Law
- Legal Theory / Jurisprudence
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Selected Publications
Editorships and Professional Affiliations
Courses Taught
Cora Chan and Fiona de Londras (eds), China’s National Security: Endangering Hong Kong’s Rule of Law? (Hart Publishing, 2020)
Demise of ‘One Country, Two Systems’? Reflections on the Hong Kong Rendition Saga” (2019) 49(2) Hong Kong Law Journal 447-457
“Thirty years from Tiananmen: China, Hong Kong, and the ongoing experiment to preserve liberal values in an authoritarian state” (2019) 17(2) International Journal of Constitutional Law 439-452.
“Problems with Wednesbury Unreasonableness in Contract Law: Lessons from Public Law” (2019) 135(Jan) Law Quarterly Review 88-113 (with Ernest Lim)
“Subnational Constitutionalism” in David S. Law (ed), Constitutionalism in Context(Cambridge University Press, forthcoming)
“Rights, Proportionality and Deference: A Study of Post-Handover Judgments in Hong Kong” (2018) 48(1) Hong Kong Law Journal 51-78
“Legalizing Politics: an Evaluation of Hong Kong’s Recent Attempt at Democratization” (2017) 16(2) Election Law Journal 296-305
“A Preliminary Framework for Measuring Deference in Rights Reasoning” (2016) 14(4) International Journal of Constitutional Law 851-882
“Implementing China and Hong Kong’s Preliminary Reference System: Transposability of Article 267 TFEU Principles” [2014] Public Law 642-661
“Business as Usual: Deference in Counter-Terrorism Judicial Review” in Fergal F. Davis and Fiona de Londras (eds) Critical Debates on Counter-Terrorism Judicial Review (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014) pp 228-250
“Focus: Kong Yunming v The Director of Social Welfare – Introduction” (2014) 44(1) Hong Kong Law Journal 1-5
“The Burden of Proof under the Human Rights Act” [2014] Judicial Review 46-51
“Adult Guardianship Law in China: Traditional Values and Modern International Developments” in A. Kimberley Dayton (ed.) Comparative Perspectives on Adult Guardianship (Carolina Academic Press, 2014) pp 123-136 (with Rebecca Lee)
“Proportionality and Invariable Baseline Intensity of Review” (2013) 33(1) Legal Studies 1-21 (winner of 2012 Society of Legal Scholars Best Paper Prize)
“Deference, Expertise and Information-Gathering Powers” (2013) 33(4) Legal Studies 598-620 (first published online: 25 October 2012) (winner of 2012-2013 University of Hong Kong Research Output Prize; short-listed for the 2011 Society of Legal Scholars Best Paper Prize)
“State Immunity: Reassessing the Boundaries of Judicial Autonomy in Hong Kong” [2012] Public Law 601-610
“Deference and the Separation of Powers: An Assessment of the Court’s Constitutional and Institutional Competences” (2011) 41 Hong Kong Law Journal 7-25
“Reconceptualising the Relationship between the Mainland Chinese Legal System and the Hong Kong Legal System” (2011) 6(1) Asian Journal of Comparative Law 1-28
“Judicial Deference at Work: Some Reflections on Chan Kin Sum and Kong Yun Ming” (2010) 40 Hong Kong Law Journal 1-10
Member, General Council, International Society of Public Law
Member, Scientific Advisory Board, International Journal of Constitutional Law (New York University School of Law and Oxford University Press)
Articles Editor, Hong Kong Law Journal (Hong Kong: Sweet & Maxwell)
Editor, Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law (Leiden – Boston: Brill Nijhoff)
Hong Kong Correspondent for the U.K. Constitutional Law Association
Member, Society of Legal Scholars, U.K.
Member, U.K. Constitutional Law Association
Fellow, Centre for Comparative and Public Law, University of Hong Kong
Constitutional Law, Administrative Law