Minority language rights and education in China: the relevance of human rights law and substantive equality

This chapter considers the potential role of international human rights law, especially provisions which are applicable to China, in mediating competing interests and objectives when determining minority language policy in the education context. In particular, it examines the content of - and the obligations arising from - the right to equality and non-discrimination and the right to equality in education. Equality, as understood in its substantive sense, requires an assessment of the actual situation of disadvantage faced by particular groups and the provision of appropriate remedies. While this principle can help ensure respect for minority language rights, political obstacles including state-building priorities often interfere with its practical realization in China

Refugees in international law and Hong Kong’s obligations

For Consideration at the Joint Meeting of the Legislative Council Panels on Welfare Services and Security on the situation of asylum seekers, refugees and claimants against torture in Hong Kong on 18 July 2006Title in full text: Hong Kong’s International Legal Obligations toward Refugees and Asylum SeekersHong Kong needs a comprehensive, systematic policy toward asylum seekers and refugees based on international standards, including provisions currently applicable to Hong Kong by virtue of the SAR‟s obligations under domestic and international human rights law and customary international law. This policy should include implementation of a legal framework that provides for a refugee status determination mechanism and basic protections for refugees. Extension of the Refugee Convention and Protocol to Hong Kong would highlight that refugee protection is a matter of basic international human rights, as distinct from a mere immigration control issue that may be subject to periodic shifts in policy. Extension of the Convention and the resulting obligations would also ensure the full range of refugee rights and be preferable to relying on current international and domestic legal requirements.published_or_final_versio

Research Shows a Majority of People in Hong Kong Support Gay and Lesbian Couples’ Rights, Not Necessarily Marriage

Briefing Paper, Centre for Comparative and Public Law (University of Hong Kong); UNC Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2374875Discussions in Hong Kong about same-sex couples’ rights often focus on the issue of same-sex marriage. However, marriage is not the only way the government could extend rights to same-sex couples. In other parts of the world, governments have conferred rights upon gay and lesbian couples without legalising same-sex marriage. Some governments have developed programs that grant same-sex couples a subset of the rights that married heterosexual couples enjoy, for example the right to hospital visitation, the right to inheritance, and the right to sue in cases of fatal accidents. Other governments have developed programs that give same-sex couples access to all the rights that married heterosexual couples have, without using the word “marriage”. These compromise legal solutions have been given a variety of different names, such as “registered domestic partnerships”, “civil unions”, and “civil partnerships.”1 We conducted a public opinion survey to investigate Hong Kong people’s attitudes towards granting same-sex couples a variety of rights, including but not limited to the right to marry. We found that only 27% of the public completely agreed that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry, and 12% said that they somewhat agreed. However, when we asked about rights more generally, our findings were substantially different: 74% of the public supported granting samesex couples either all or some of the rights that are accorded to heterosexual couples. The remainder of this briefing paper proceeds in two steps. We first provide background on our survey and present our findings. Afterwards, we explore the public policy implications of our research.preprin

Assessing the Tongzhi Label: Self-Identification and Public Opinion

Tongzhi is one of several Chinese terms that refer to individuals who are attracted to the same sex. Using data from two different surveys in Hong Kong, this research note examines how the term tongzhi coexists with other terms. We investigate the prevalence of self-identification as tongzhi, and we explore the extent to which using the term tongzhi influences public attitudes toward gay people and gay rights. Activists began popularizing the term tongzhi in the late 1980s, but less than one third of the participants in our 2008 survey of sexual orientation minorities (n = 728) described themselves as tongzhi. Using a split-ballot experiment in a 2013 public opinion poll (n = 831), we found that attitudes toward gay people and gay rights were not significantly impacted by whether questions were phrased in terms of tongzhi or the main alternative term tongxinglianzhe. We discuss how our findings can enrich understandings of earlier research and illuminate avenues for future study

Polynomial functions on upper triangular matrix algebras

There are two kinds of polynomial functions on matrix algebras over commutative rings: those induced by polynomials with coefficients in the algebra itself and those induced by polynomials with scalar coefficients. In the case of algebras of upper triangular matrices over a commutative ring, we characterize the former in terms of the latter (which are easier to handle because of substitution homomorphism). We conclude that the set of integer-valued polynomials with matrix coefficients on an algebra of upper triangular matrices is a ring, and that the set of null-polynomials with matrix coefficients on an algebra of upper triangular matrices is an ideal.Comment: to appear in Monatsh. Math; 15 page

Children of Prisoners: Their Situation and Role in Long-Term Crime Prevention

Studies suggest that maintaining family ties can help reduce the likelihood of reoffending, and that while parental imprisonment can increase a child’s likelihood to offend, positive responses to the situation can aid the children’s well-being, attitude and attainment. Drawing on findings from the recently completed EU-funded COPING Project on the mental health of children of prisoners, this chapter explores the factors that aid a child’s ability to cope with parental imprisonment and the actions that different stakeholders can take to support them. It identifies some of the mental health impacts at different stages of parental imprisonment, the roles played by non-imprisoned parents/carers and by schools, and suggests options for further clarifying the factors that help and hinder children of prisoners in the short and long term