Abstract
Despite its outward appearance as a model of global economic success, Hong Kong is noted for its wide-ranging social problems.1 Law schools inevitably play a critical role in producing socially responsible and public interest-oriented lawyers, who are essential to the delivery of justice and the protection of human rights. In Hong Kong there is a growing need to strengthen civil society and inspire student lawyers to advance the “public interest.”2 While clinical legal education (CLE) and student advocacy have become a core part of curricula around the globe,3 there has been little exploration of how these two modes of experiential education can be combined convincingly to advance social justice. Our aim here, therefore, is to chart the pathways taken toward the goal of developing a “social justice” culture at university level and beyond through CLE.
We would like to express our continued appreciation to the many people who provided kind assistance to the development of the clinic programs discussed herein. Special thanks go to Professors Barbara Schatz, Stacy Caplow, Takao Suami, Shigeo Miyagawa, Satoru Shinomiya, and Edwin Rekosh
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Notes
A survey of recent headlines from Hong Kong’s leading newspaper—the South China Morning Post—demonstrate the extent of government failings: “Hong Kong ‘a hot-bed for modern day slavery’”; “New town will leave 1,000 old people without homes”; “Ethnic minority pupils ‘being set up to fail.’” See also Leo Goodstadt, Poverty in the Midst of Affluence: How Hong Kong Mismanaged Its Prosperity(Hong Kong University Press, 2013).
For a comprehensive study of the development of Hong Kong’s legal education, see Luke Marsh, Michael Ramsden, and Christopher Young, “Legal Education in Hong Kong: A History of Reform,” in S. P. Sarker (ed.) Legal Education in Asia (Eleven International Publishing, the Netherlands, 2013).
See David R. Barnhizer, “The Clinical Method of Legal Instruction: Its Theory and Implementation” (1979) 30 Legal Ed. J. 67.
For an introduction to the three classic forms of clinical education, see Margaret Barry, Jon Dubin, and Peter Joy, “Clinical Education in this Millennium: The Third Wave” (2000) 7 Clinical L. Rev. 1.
See Stacy Caplow, “Clinical Legal Education in Hong Kong: A Time to Move Forward” (2006) 36 HK Law Journal 229.
Ibid. 6. For a brief but helpful summary of the “renaissance” of CLE in the United States as compared with other jurisdictions, see Kris Gledhill, “Establishing an International Human Rights Clinic in the New Zealand Context” (2013) 19 Int’l J Clinical Legal Educ. 295.
Ibid. 21. Seegenerally Symposium, “Promoting Justice Through Interdisciplinary Teaching Practice and Scholarship” (2003) 11 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol’y 1.
For a useful exposition of the merits (and limitations) of externships in a social justice context, see Liz Cole, “Externships: A Special Focus to Help Understand and Advance Social Justice,” in Frank S. Bloch (ed.) The Global Clinical Movement: Educating Lawyers for Social Justice (OUP, 2011).
For further discussion, see, for example, Michael Ramsden and Luke Marsh, “Hong Kong: Developing the Legal Framework for Socio-Economic Rights Protection” (2014) 14 Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 267; “The ‘Right to Work’ of Refugees in Hong Kong: MA v Director of Immigration” (2013) 25 Int. J. Refugee Law 574.
For more on this, see Michael Ramsden and Luke Marsh, “Using Clinical Education to Innovate the Law Curriculum and Address an Unmet Legal Need: A Hong Kong Perspective” (2014) 63 J. Legal Educ. 3.
For further discussion, see Luke Marsh and Michael Ramsden, “Fostering Civic Engagement through Legal Education: Observations from Hong Kong” (2014) 1 Asian J. Legal Educ. 57.
Under Order 15 Rules of the High Court. See generally Gary Meggitt, “Class Actions in Hong Kong—Yes, No, Maybe” (2013) 43 HK Law Journal 217; University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law, Research Paper No.2013/029, http://ssrn.com/abjstract=2290116, accessed September 1, 2014.
Karen Kong, “Public Interest Litigation in Hong Kong: A New Hope for Social Transformation?” (2009) 28 Civil Just. Q. 327.
See rules of locus standi in Hong Kong; see also Swati Jhaveri, Michael Ramsden, and Anne Scully-Hill, Hong Kong Administrative Law 2nd ed.(Hong Kong: Lexis Nexis, 2013) Ch 4.
Burton Weisbrod, Conceptual Perspective on the Public Interest: An Economic and Institutional Analysis (Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1978) 2.
Amin Ghazani and Marc Ventresca, “Keywords and Cultural Change: Frame Analysis of Business Model Public Talk, 1975–2000” (2005) 20 Sociological For. 523.
Ann Southworth, “Conservative Lawyers and the Contest over the Meaning of ‘Public Interest Law’” (2005) 52 UCLA L. Rev. 1223.
For an interesting perspective on two examples of community law clinics, see Anna Cody and Barbara Schatz, “Community Law Clinics: Teaching Students, Working with Disadvantaged Communities,” in Frank S. Bloch (ed.) The Global Clinical Movement: Educating Lawyers for Social Justice (OUP, 2011) Ch 11.
D. Ikawa, “The Impact of Public Interest Law on Legal Education,” in Frank S. Bloch (ed.) The Global Clinical Movement: Educating Lawyers for Social Justice (OUP, 2011) Ch 11.
Some leading academics go so far as to argue that “law schools breed a culture of … conformity, [which] exerts a constant pressure to make comparisons along a uniform axis … This culture is remarkably static, non-adaptive, and resistant to change, even in the face of strong pressure from significant constituents of legal education and evidence that law schools are not fulfilling core aspects of their mission.”: Susan Sturm and aaa LaniGuinier, “The Law School Matrix: Reforming Legal Education in a Culture of Competition and Conformity” (2007) 60 Vand. L. Rev. 519–520, 539–540.
For example, the issue of welfare provision available to residents in Hong Kong recently arose in the Hong Kong courts: Kong Yunming v. The Director of Social Welfare [2013] HKEC 1995 (CFA). Although viewed by many as a “victory” for the underprivileged, the decision has arguably further highlighted the uncertain and hesitant relationship with mainland China and fueled underlying tensions that exist. See also sexual minority litigation discussed in Michael Ramsden and Luke Marsh, “Same-sex marriage in Hong Kong: the case for a constitutional right” (2015) 19(1) The International Journal of Human Rights 90.
Sameer M. Ashar, “Law Clinics and Collective Mobilization” (2008) 14 Clinical L. Re v. 355, 357.
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Marsh, L., Ramsden, M. (2015). Pathways to Social Transformation through Clinic: Developing a “Social Justice” Culture in Hong Kong. In: Sarker, S.P. (eds) Clinical Legal Education in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137517531_13
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