The University of Hong Kong insisted yesterday that the independent panel which investigated the Robert Chung Ting-yiu controversy was properly constituted.
It said the legal grounds for the tribunal had been carefully examined by the governing council at its meeting on July 25 when the body was set up.
The statement came after the South China Morning Post revealed yesterday that some experts believed the panel might not have been properly constituted. The experts said Section XIX paragraph 2(a) of the statute the council relied on was intended for commercial matters only. They also questioned whether the council had the power to appoint independent experts.
The paragraph says the council has power 'to administer and manage the finances, accounts, investments, property, business, and all affairs whatsoever of the university, and for that purpose to appoint bankers, counsel, solicitors and such officers or agents as it may be expedient to appoint'.
But former legislator and solicitor Ronald Arculli said that under a widely recognised legal principle on sentence construction - ejusdem generis - only a more limited interpretation was possible. This meant the council could only appoint 'agents' to deal with university commercial matters, even though the paragraph had the words 'all affairs whatsoever of the university'.
Mr Arculli said the controversy was not something to manage or administer since it was about conduct of individuals. He said the panel members could not be considered agents of the university.
