https://www.scmp.com/rss/300818/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Recent controversy regarding the decoration of the bronze lions outside the HSBC building brings to mind the near loss of these icons of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation. It is 75 years since the fall of Hong Kong. Apart from the terrible human suffering the cost of the Japanese occupation included the looting of anything of value, with special treasures being sent to Japan. This was the intended fate of Stephen and Stitt, which guard the HSBC building. The story of their return in 1946... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2055773/hong-kong-lions-stephen-and-stitt-japanese-looters-and-legal-battle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2055773/hong-kong-lions-stephen-and-stitt-japanese-looters-and-legal-battle?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Dec 2016 08:37:50 +0000 Many news stories have focused on disputes and issues involving Hong Kong’s “cultural heritage”. Recently an underwater archaeology group discovered an ancient stone anchor and bronze cannons in the waters off Hong Kong and called for more government support for archaeological investigation. The demolition of Ho Tung Gardens and the delays caused to the Sha Tin to Central rail project by the discovery of the archaeological remains of a well at the former Sacred Hill in To Kwa Wan are still fresh... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1994554/current-hong-kong-laws-fail-test-heritage-protection?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1994554/current-hong-kong-laws-fail-test-heritage-protection?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Jul 2016 09:15:30 +0000 The brother of murderer Henry Chau has begun court proceedings to ensure he does not inherit anything from the parents he murdered. It is a principle of the common law that "the bloody hand does not inherit". If a person unlawfully kills another, then the common law does not permit the killer to inherit anything from the victim: this applies to murder and manslaughter. If the killer inherited the property before his culpability was discovered, then the property would be held by the killer in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1877189/bloody-hand-may-not-inherit-why-hong-kong-killer-henry-chau-will-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1877189/bloody-hand-may-not-inherit-why-hong-kong-killer-henry-chau-will-not?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Nov 2015 16:00:37 +0000 After the high-profile conviction of Rafael Hui Si-yan for accepting a bribe while an officer of the government, recent news has concerned the published intention of the liquidator in Hui's bankruptcy to trace and recover assets in the hands of his former mistress, Eline Shen, who has also expressed her concern that she may lose some of the gifts she received from the disgraced former public official. As yet the government has not commented on any intention to trace and claim the bribes that... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1721837/raphael-hui-tracing-proceeds-bribery-and-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1721837/raphael-hui-tracing-proceeds-bribery-and-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Feb 2015 14:45:30 +0000 On September 28, the Post reported an apparent growth in interest on the mainland in the cryonic preservation of the dead. The science of cryonics is the frozen preservation of the dead or parts of the dead in liquid nitrogen in the hope that medical science may develop to such an extent as to resurrect the dead at some future date. Mainlanders' interest in cryonic preservation, sometimes referred to incorrectly as cryogenics, is said to be driven by the central government's policy to discourage... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1642413/why-dream-living-forever-may-end-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1642413/why-dream-living-forever-may-end-court?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Nov 2014 20:22:20 +0000 Last month, a 36kg unexploded bomb was discovered in North Point, left by the Japanese at the end of the second world war. The police used 100 sandbags to effect a controlled explosion. Nevertheless, debris was flung 100 metres and it created a three-metre-deep crater. In February, a 900kg American bomb discovered in Happy Valley was successfully defused by the police. But in January, construction workers in Germany were not so lucky. Their mechanical digger struck a British bomb, which... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1604055/lets-not-rely-luck-when-it-comes-unexploded-bombs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1604055/lets-not-rely-luck-when-it-comes-unexploded-bombs?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:06:12 +0000 When are human remains not human remains? In the last four years, there has been much news concerning unauthorised columbariums. The city has a shortage of niches for storing urns containing cremated human remains, sometimes referred to as cremains. Such a shortage, coupled with a cultural reluctance to keep cremains in the home or scatter them - both common practices in many other countries - has made columbariums big business. In Hong Kong's market-driven economy, it is no surprise that... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1580632/no-law-stop-businesses-carving-niche-housing-dead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1580632/no-law-stop-businesses-carving-niche-housing-dead?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Aug 2014 20:15:15 +0000 If Hong Kong is concerned about the looting of art and antiquities from China in the past, it has to consider its position in the international art and antiques market today. In the last 15 years there has been a marked change in Beijing's expressed concern and consequent policy regarding Chinese cultural heritage, focused on the looting of Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer Palace, in 1860 by a combined force of British and French troops, led by Lord Elgin, a descendant of the purchaser of the Elgin... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1420131/hong-kongs-role-looting-uncomfortable-truth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1420131/hong-kongs-role-looting-uncomfortable-truth?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Feb 2014 21:30:45 +0000 When a company is struggling to stay afloat its directors will find it increasingly difficult to raise finance, even if they have a viable business opportunity that may save the company and the jobs of its employees. The statutory liquidation regime in Hong Kong is quite strict on its division of property and lenders take great risks in lending to companies that are insolvent. Unlike other jurisdictions with "rescue regimes", Hong Kong has a very limited restructuring regime and so there is... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1382163/quistclose-trust-helps-lenders-protect-loans-failing-firms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1382163/quistclose-trust-helps-lenders-protect-loans-failing-firms?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2013 20:46:05 +0000 On December 1, the city's law of trusts will undergo major changes. A trust is created when someone transfers property to another, subject to the obligation to hold that property for the benefit of others. The person creating the trust is called the settlor, the one looking after the property is the trustee and those who will benefit from the property are called the beneficiaries of the trust. Trustees are bound by strict duties to look after the trust property, and are granted powers by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1347761/modernising-trust-law-many-hong-kong-have-lost-faith?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1347761/modernising-trust-law-many-hong-kong-have-lost-faith?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2013 20:15:15 +0000 Elephant ivory has been coveted for millennia for its natural beauty and suitability for intricate carving. Demand for ivory led to the near extinction of elephants in the wild in the early 1970s. Measures to protect them included the prosecution of poachers, the interception of smuggled consignments of ivory, and the prosecution of those selling illegally obtained ivory. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was intended to control the trade... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1311013/targeting-buyers-illegal-ivory-could-hit-trade-where-it-hurts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1311013/targeting-buyers-illegal-ivory-could-hit-trade-where-it-hurts?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Sep 2013 16:00:00 +0000 One of the questions that often crops up regarding the habits of the legal profession is why barristers wear wigs in court? Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li recently refused the Law Society's request that solicitors might wear horsehair wigs in court in the manner of barristers. What may be considered an unimportant decision regarding anachronistic fancy dress is important in maintaining the independence of the legal professions in Hong Kong. Separate legal professions are a legacy of British... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1296192/court-dress-protocol-more-just-matter-fashion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1296192/court-dress-protocol-more-just-matter-fashion?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Recently the Director of Public Prosecutions Kevin Zervos called for tougher civil laws to recover "dirty money". Civil recovery using the common law is a "hot topic" among property lawyers because of doubts about the leading judgment - a case involving the DPP's infamous predecessor Warwick Reid. Reid's case considered important questions about who "owned" a bribe or its proceeds. Previously an employer or other principal could only take a personal action against an employee to account for a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1231667/citys-creative-dealing-corruption-lesson-follow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1231667/citys-creative-dealing-corruption-lesson-follow?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Disputes over estates of the deceased often bring out the worst in human nature. With contention over the estates of late Canto-pop diva Anita Mui Yim-fong and late billionaire Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum, you might question the value of a will and paying a lawyer to write it. Generally, we are free to do what we like with our property - we may sell it, give it away, or even destroy it, so long as this causes no harm to others. However, there are many restrictions on what we can direct to be done with... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1204953/wills-wishes-and-lawyers-can-we-control-our-assets-grave?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1204953/wills-wishes-and-lawyers-can-we-control-our-assets-grave?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000