'Lai's decision reflects a "general disillusionment" with how the judiciary handles national security cases, said Urania Chiu.
"Against this backdrop, it is hard for individual defendants and the general public to place trust in the judiciary's independence and competence," Chiu told AFP.'
I’m glad for this policy, but don’t understand why Mahmoud is claiming, “the British people will always welcome those in genuine need of sanctuary.” That’s untrue, as the UK doesn’t provide humanitarian visas to most people in need. Why not just be honest? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Hong Kong exceptionalism is no good for anybody.
...for offering and publishing legitimate critiques of the state, which often involves engagement with international platforms and audiences, may now easily be construed as such 'collusion'.
I do see the irony in my saying this on multiple international news channels.
Jimmy Lai and former editors and writers of Apple Daily have been given sentences between 6 and 20 years for sedition and collusion offences under the National Security Law. I told AP the application of 'collusion with foreign forces' to media activities is alarming for journalists and academics...
Asked by AP to comment on the latest national security trial—I talked about how the case goes to the heart of freedom of expression, that it hinges on the argument that a call for 'bringing the one-party rule to an end' constitutes subversion WITHOUT MORE, which amounts to criminalising an idea.
So much of the commentary on the FWS judgment has been driven by reflexive responses to the outcome, but there are so many gaps and leaps in its reasoning that it will spawn litigation for years to come - @aoifemod.bsky.social and I flag some failings in judge craft:
nilq.qub.ac.uk/index.php/ni...
National security concerns become paramount in discussions of all things legal and political, even in matters of life and death.
In just the last few days, the news cycle on the horrific Tai Po fire has already moved from reporting on the fire itself, to its potential causes and questions of accountability, then to arrests and 'chats' with those calling for accountability by the HK Police's national security department.
Now published for those who want to read and perhaps build upon my analysis of 47 Democrats and national security adjudication in HK. Though it's been a year since the judgment, my conclusions about HK courts' 'national security first' approach and the HKSAR as an 'insecurity state' remain true ...
The tragic fire in Tai Po has deeper roots: Hong Kong's market-driven, capitalist system that promotes predatory business interests over working people's safety. Read our latest on how Hongkongers are supporting each other through mass mutual aid:
lausancollective.com/2025/tai-po-...
In 2018, I conducted an empirical study of the law & practice of ‘conditional discharge’ (CD) for psy patients in HK, arguing that it grants overbroad powers to professionals with few safeguards. 7 years later, there is finally judicial affirmation of the right to access to justice for CD subjects:
Remember, while the UK government prattled on about 'cancel culture' they cultivated the real threats to academic freedom. Forcing universities to be dependent on internationalization through broken funding models and failing academic staff.
www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc....
If anyone is curious about the quality of 'debate' preceding the vote on HK's same-sex partnership registration bill (which seeks to provide very limited rights to a very limited group of same-sex couples):
Also fresh off the press is this report on (the failure of) HK's same-sex partnership reg bill by @jessiepang.bsky.social @reuters.com, featuring a very brief comment by me to the effect that what happens next is a political (between the Gov and LegCo) rather than legal question (for the judiciary).
Fresh off the press on Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies @oxfordcsls.bsky.social—my review of Cressida Auckland's monograph, Values and Disorder in Mental Capacity Law (OUP 2024):
frontiers.csls.ox.ac.uk/values-in-mental-capacity-law/
The original article, published last year in the Statute Law Review, is available on open access here:
Found out recently that my lead-authored work on sentencing under the National Security Law has been cited by UKVI in the country information note on HK for the purpose of assessing asylum claims. Things are pretty grim at the moment but it's heartening to see that the work you do have real impact.
I've written—a while ago now—a comment on the '47 Democrats' verdict and sentencing judgment, which will appear in the forthcoming edition of Journal of Criminal Law. My usual focus on judicial interpretation and the *discourses* they draw on re 'constantly arising security risks and threats’. AOM:
Biological sex is not visible. It cannot be determined solely by visible markers. Defining sex by biology is a licence for the worst forms of racism, misogyny and bullying.
Across common law jurisdictions, mental disorder has long been accepted as a possible ground for mitigating one's criminal responsibility or excusing one from it. This is true of both trial-verdict and sentencing stages. Beyond the well-established defences of insanity and diminished responsibility, however, little has been written in doctrinal or empirical research on the justification of mental disorder as a mitigating factor in sentencing. Drawing on a critical discourse analysis of 300 sentencing judgments from Hong Kong, this article contributes original insights to ongoing debates in socio-legal studies about the relationship between mental dis/order, capacity, and culpability in the criminal justice system. It is found that, even whilst judges frame the question of whether the defendant had offended under an ab/normal state of mind as a 'scientific' one which relies on clinical psychiatric or psychological expert knowledge, they in fact draw heavily on their own judicial expertise—socio-legal norms about what constitutes dis/ordered behaviour in all spheres of life-in giving the answer. In some cases, cultural stereotypes about disordered people are found to be so influential that they overwhelm legal standards: judges openly conflate the question of in/capacity to participate in criminal proceedings, in/capacity to live a 'normal' everyday life, and in/capacity to bear full responsibility for one's criminal act. These findings raise questions about how mental disorder should be understood, especially in relation to other legal doctrines which also rely on 'abnormal' offending, in this highly unstructured area in common law.
Abstract for my paper:
Also looking forward to the usual conference shenanigans: rushing to get to as many panels as I can, meeting old and new friends, browsing and wanting to buy too many books, all while being hyper-caffeinated. (All this to say, please do reach out if you want to connect next week!)
Cover slide for my presentation, 'Criminal responsibility under 'abnormal' states of mind: Understanding mental disorder as a mitigating factor in sentencing'
Programme for the 'Criminal Law and Criminal Justice: Criminal Responsibility' panel at the SLSA Conference.
Working on my presentation for the @slsauk.bsky.social conference next week—excited to talk about my PhD research for the 1st time since completion AND for the 1st time to criminal lawyers. Looking forward to discussing the role of disorder in sentencing and what 'abnormality' means in criminal law.
Clichéd as it sounds I'm glad I did the doctorate, even though parts of it weren't so fun and even a lil scary. But it's done, and I'm excited to share more from my research on the dis/ordered criminal offender & HK with you soon. Of course, I'll first have to write the stuff up...after the break...
Just got my 'beg for the degree' letter so here goes: I'm done w/ the DPhil! The long (& corporate) post is on LinkedIn, but I thought I'd also share this here, w/ my acknowledgments, because I really want to highlight the importance of institutional & community support in my being able to do this.
(And other gender/sexual minorities.) (And this is not to say there hasn't been progress or that women have it particularly bad in HK—just that many instances of 'solidarity' have been much more tribalist than feminist and we have a long way to go.)
Women have always been present but are only recognised when they're politically useful. The 2019 MeToo rally was full of 'we need to protect OUR women' rhetoric and when women have spoken up re sexual violence WITHIN the movement they're largely ignored because of the 'need to keep a united front'.
reposted because me too!!
"contextualize our critique of China's further crackdown on Hong Kong activists in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians ... a forceful recognition of the US' hypocrisy that sees officials condemning the kangaroo courts of HK while supplying an endless stream of arms to Israel"
The LGBTQ community in Hong Kong saw a landmark victory on Tuesday as the city's top court upheld housing and inheritance rights of same-sex married couples after government appeals against lower court rulings.
In full: https://buff.ly/41b86vM
Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.