Cora Chan 陳秀慧
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 advisory boards of the International Journal of Constitutional Law and the Springer series in Contemporary Chinese Civil and Commercial Law, and the editorial boards of Hart Studies in Constitutional Theory Series, Asian Journal of Comparative Law, Hong Kong Law Journal, Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law, and Revista de Investigações Constitucionais (Journal of Constitutional Research). She was appointed by Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee as a member of the Law Panel for the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2020. She was awarded the inaugural Rosie Young 90 Medal for Outstanding Young Woman Scholar in 2021, 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 Area
- Human Rights
- Public Law
- Legal Theory / Jurisprudence
more details
Select Publications
Awards
Editorships and Professional Affiliations
Courses Taught
Edited book
Cora Chan and Fiona de Londras (eds), China’s National Security: Endangering Hong Kong’s Rule of Law? (Hart Publishing, 2020)
Journal articles
“From legal pluralism to dual state: evolution of the relationship between the Chinese and Hong Kong legal orders” (2022) 16(1) Law & Ethics of Human Rights 99-135
“Can Hong Kong remain a liberal enclave within China? Analysis of the Hong Kong National Security Law” [2021] Public Law 271-292
“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)
“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
“The Burden of Proof under the Human Rights Act” [2014] Judicial Review 46-51
“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
Case notes and international survey
“Hong Kong – public entertainment licence only required if admission is controlled. Court of Final Appeal decision, T v Commissioner of Police [2014] HKCFA 71” [2015] Public Law 161-162 (International Survey)
“Hong Kong – Post-Operative Transsexuals Have Right to Marry, Court of Final Appeal decision, W v Registrar of Marriages” [2014] Public Law 343-344 (International Survey)
“Introduction: Kong Yunming v Director of Social Welfare” (2014) Hong Kong Law Journal 1-5
Book chapters
“Subnational Constitutionalism: Hong Kong”, in David S. Law (ed), Constitutionalism in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2022)
“The Executive”, in Johannes Chan and C.L. Lim (eds), Law of the Hong Kong Constitution, 3rd edition (Thomson Reuters, 2021) ch 10
“Yash Ghai and the Constitutional Project of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ in Hong Kong”, in Humphrey Sipalla and J. Osogo Ambani (eds), Furthering Constitutions, Birthing Peace: Liber Amicorum Yash Pal Ghai (Strathmore University Press, 2021) pp 303-335 (with Albert Chen)
“China’s National Security in Hong Kong: A Challenge for Constitutionalism, Autonomy, and the Rule of Law”, in Cora Chan and Fiona de Londras (eds), China’s National Security: Endangering Hong Kong’s Rule of Law? (Hart Publishing, 2020) pp 1-15 (with Fiona de Londras)
“Building rule of law resilience through institutions: a proposed institutional infrastructure for national security legislation,” in Cora Chan and Fiona de Londras (eds), China’s National Security: Endangering Hong Kong’s Rule of Law? (Hart Publishing, 2020) pp 275-296 (with Fiona de Londras)
“A Principled Approach to Judicial Deference for Hong Kong”, in Guobin Zhu (ed), Deference to the Administration in Judicial Review: Comparative Perspectives (Springer, 2019) pp 203-229
“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
“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)
Online publications
Report on Hong Kong, in Richard Albert, David Landau, Pietro Faraguna, Simon Drugda (eds) The I·CONnect-Clough Center 2018 Global Review of Constitutional Law, (Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, 2019) (with PY Lo and Swati Jhaveri)
“Demise of ‘One Country, Two Systems’?: Reflections on the Hong Kong Rendition Saga”, VerfBlog, 2019/6/28, https://verfassungsblog.de/demise-of-one-country-two-systems/
“The Legal Limits on Beijing’s Powers of Interpreting the Basic Law”, HKU Legal Scholarship Blog, 3 November 2016, available at http://researchblog.law.hku.hk/2016/11/cora-chan-on-legal-limits-of-beijings.html
“When, if ever, will Hong Kong see democracy?” U.K. Constitutional Law Blog, 7 July 2014, available at http://ukconstitutionallaw.org/2014/07/07/comment-on-hong-kong-cora-chan-when-if-ever-will-hong-kong-see-democracy/
Inaugural Rosie Young 90 Medal for Outstanding Young Woman Scholar, University of Hong Kong, 2021
Outstanding Young Researcher Award, University of Hong Kong, 2017-2018
British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant, 2017 (with Fiona de Londras)
Hong Kong Research Grants Council Early Career Award, 2013
Society of Legal Scholars Best Paper Prize, 2012
Doris Zimmern HKU-Cambridge Hughes Hall Fellowship 2013-2014
Faculty Research Output Prize, University of Hong Kong, 2015
Faculty Research Output Prize, University of Hong Kong, 2014
Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Hong Kong, 2014
University Research Output Prize, University of Hong Kong, 2012-2013
Member, General Council, International Society of Public Law
Member, Advisory Board, International Journal of Constitutional Law (New York University School of Law and Oxford University Press)
Member, Advisory Board, Springer series in Contemporary Chinese Civil and Commercial Law
Member, Advisory Board, Hart Studies in Constitutional Theory Series
Member, Editorial Board, Asian Journal of Comparative Law
Articles Editor, Hong Kong Law Journal (Hong Kong: Sweet & Maxwell)
Editor, Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law (Leiden – Boston: Brill Nijhoff)
Editor, Revista de Investigações Constitucionais (Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil)
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