Confucius knew the will of Heaven when he was at 50. We are now 50 years old, but do we know the purpose of institutional life and our destiny? At this moment, we shall reflect on our past successes and failures and look forward to, and plan for, our future. The on-going protest and the resultant governance crisis remind us forcefully of our duties in supporting the rule of law and good governance in Hong Kong. The rule of law has established a pivotal role within Hong Kong’s collective  DNA  and our Faculty has a unique role to play in maintaining it.

The Faculty is a leading legal education provider in Hong Kong. We bear a unique responsibility to educate and train future lawyers and judges; to sustain the common law system; and to serve the people in Hong Kong. As a Faculty, we are rooted in Hong Kong, and we must develop our core competence in common law as it is practiced in Hong Kong. Our future development must be based on that foundational understanding.

We are a common law Faculty within the Chinese constitutional order. Under the Basic Law, and the ‘One Country Two Systems’ principle it enshrines, Hong Kong has interacted with the mainland legal system. That interactive process between Hong Kong and the mainland has, over decades, created a significant impact on Hong Kong’s legal system. Under the Basic Law, the Hong Kong system remains unchanged for 50 years, starting from 1997. Now, nearly half way through this unique Constitutional journey, Hong Kong has to actively think about, and plan for, its constitutional future, its role and place in China, and prospective legal education and legal practices in the post-2047 era. Hong Kong needs to understand China better, to communicate with the system in the Mainland more effectively, and to play a role of a helping hand in China’s expansive engagement with the world. The Faculty is well-positioned to play a major role.

Hong Kong’s history, geographic location, and its role in international financial and trade necessitates a cosmopolitan, transnational, and comparative approach to legal research and education. It is essential for the Faculty to create and maintain an active international profile with a positive and high visibility. To be a leading law school in China and in the region, we first need to be embedded in, and highly regarded by, the international community. We continue to aim high and work with, and benchmark against, the best law schools in the world. We continue to develop and maintain structured programmes and deep-level cooperation with our peers globally.