https://www.scmp.com/rss/512247/feed Victor Dawes SC is a former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association and a commercial litigator. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Victor Dawes Victor Dawes Few moments at the Bar are more joyful and surreal than watching one’s former pupil take silk: pride, disbelief and the sudden realisation that someone you still instinctively think of as “junior” is now being bestowed with unmistakable senior seriousness. Last Saturday was, therefore, a sentimental moment for me as I watched my former pupil, Bonnie Cheng, being honoured with the new status at the ceremony. As the old saying goes, every barrister wants to take silk – until one does. The great... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3354200/weight-silk-what-honour-means-inner-bar-institution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3354200/weight-silk-what-honour-means-inner-bar-institution?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 01:30:09 +0000 Victor Dawes Victor Dawes Sir Anthony Mason, one of Hong Kong’s first and greatest justices to sit on our Court of Final Appeal, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 100. Not only was he a towering jurist in the common law world, but his contribution to Hong Kong’s legal system, particularly in its formative post-1997 years, was both profound and enduring. Sir Anthony served on the High Court of Australia for 23 years, with the final eight years (1987 to 1995) as its chief justice. He was perhaps best known to the Hong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3347173/tribute-towering-jurist-how-late-sir-anthony-mason-shaped-hong-kong-courts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3347173/tribute-towering-jurist-how-late-sir-anthony-mason-shaped-hong-kong-courts?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:49:41 +0000 Victor Dawes Victor Dawes It was a blisteringly hot afternoon at the tail end of my pupillage in ’00. I was staring into space and imagining my glorious debut in court – when the phone rang. On the other end was a clerk from a small local solicitors’ firm, who asked, with alarming nonchalance, whether I could defend a robbery trial at Sha Tin Magistrates’ Court the following week. I said yes immediately – with a brief hesitation revealing that it would be my first criminal trial in the hope that honesty would not cost me... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3342427/baptism-fire-my-first-criminal-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3342427/baptism-fire-my-first-criminal-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 01:32:44 +0000 Victor Dawes Victor Dawes I grew up in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district and Wang Fuk Court was a stone’s throw away from my school. In the recent fire, 16 students and one staff member of my alma mater were affected. Fortunately, there were no casualties among them, but homes were destroyed and their loss was profoundly felt. The alumni circle was unanimously grief-stricken and many made every effort to offer whatever modest help we could. In the wake of the fire, messages of sympathy and concern for Hong Kong arrived one... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3336838/despite-lapses-behind-tai-po-fire-hong-kongs-unity-shows-time-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3336838/despite-lapses-behind-tai-po-fire-hong-kongs-unity-shows-time-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 01:30:11 +0000 Victor Dawes Victor Dawes If one were to picture a high-stakes courtroom drama on late-night television, one would likely see a distinctive image: figures clad in flowing black robes, white collars neatly pressed, and most importantly, the iconic wigs perched solemnly atop their heads. It may come as a surprise that this curious relic of fashion, born in the late 17th century, still holds a place in courts. Yet despite recent debates in the United Kingdom, the wig remains one of the most enduring symbols of the legal... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3332565/heady-history-wigs-court-case-hong-kong-lawyers-keep-them?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3332565/heady-history-wigs-court-case-hong-kong-lawyers-keep-them?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 01:41:58 +0000 Victor Dawes Victor Dawes On the first day of my pupillage in September 1999, my “pupil master” showed me around his chambers and introduced me to various members. Not being alive to our customs and traditions, I put my hand out expecting a firm handshake with a senior member but was told: “You are now a member of the Bar and we do not shake hands with each other.” It was then explained to me that the tradition was rooted in the sword-bearing era, when a handshake signalled no hostile intent and was unnecessary for a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3326740/brief-history-pupil-barristers-and-systems-evolution-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3326740/brief-history-pupil-barristers-and-systems-evolution-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Sep 2025 01:30:14 +0000 Victor Dawes Victor Dawes Much has been written about cryptocurrencies in the past few weeks as a result of the Genius Act and the market trend. Share prices of listed companies in related businesses have appreciated very significantly in both the US and Hong Kong. The trend appears unstoppable. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expects the stablecoin market alone to grow tenfold over the next few years from US$200 billion to US$2 trillion. While cryptocurrencies present new opportunities for investors, it is generally... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3320191/crypto-frenzy-and-legal-response-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3320191/crypto-frenzy-and-legal-response-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Jul 2025 01:30:13 +0000 Victor Dawes Victor Dawes From Hong Kong Disneyland and Universal Studios Singapore to Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, there is this never-ending comparison between Hong Kong and Singapore. Insofar as our legal systems and the legal markets are concerned, there are also interesting similarities and differences. Both Hong Kong and Singapore are common law jurisdictions with developed and efficient legal systems. We are both in strategic locations with world-class legal infrastructure and vibrant legal communities.... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3314025/case-hong-kong-vs-singapore-there-unlimited-potential-collaboration?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3314025/case-hong-kong-vs-singapore-there-unlimited-potential-collaboration?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Jun 2025 01:30:15 +0000 Victor Dawes Victor Dawes One of the vivid memories of my days as an undergraduate law student in London was to watch a live debate between Lord Woolf and Professor Michael Zander on what was known as the Woolf reforms. Lord Woolf was then the Master of the Rolls in the English Court of Appeal and was undertaking the task of modernising their Civil Procedure Rules. The debate was intense but entertaining and it was an eye-opener for a law student to watch great legal minds arguing over a topical issue. Some 10 years... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3307662/do-we-still-need-overseas-judges-hong-kongs-top-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3307662/do-we-still-need-overseas-judges-hong-kongs-top-court?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Apr 2025 01:30:20 +0000 Lord Robert Reed and Lord Patrick Hodge, the president and deputy president of the UK Supreme Court, have submitted their resignations as non-permanent judges in the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong, amid British political concerns about the effect of the national security law. Their resignations marked the end of a long-time practice. The invitation of two serving law lords (now justices of the UK Supreme Court) to sit in Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal as non-permanent judges was adopted... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3172445/uk-judges-exit-disappointing-hong-kong-judicial-independence-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3172445/uk-judges-exit-disappointing-hong-kong-judicial-independence-will?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Mar 2022 13:30:25 +0000