Class actions in Hong Kong– yes, no, maybe

Although the Civil Justice Reform brought about many changes to the Hong Kong courts, multi-party claims are still governed by rules whose origins are over a hundred years old. In 2006, the Hong Kong Law Reform Commission undertook the task of considering whether a scheme for multi-party litigation should be adopted in Hong Kong and, if so, to make whatever recommendations were needed to bring this into being. The Law Reform Commission eventually proposed the creation of a ‘class action regime’. This proposal has met with a mixed response from the legal profession, industry groups and the wider public. Its fate may soon be decided by a cross-sector working group chaired by the Solicitor General.postprin

The case for (and against) compulsory court-annexed mediation in Hong Kong

This paper examines the development of mediation in Hong Kong to date before turning to the approach of several other common law jurisdictions to compulsory mediation. It then examines the advantages and disadvantages of compulsion and concludes with what lessons, if any, the Hong Kong experience may have for other jurisdictions.postprin

Civil justice reform in Hong Kong: Its progress and its future

The Civil Justice Reform process in Hong Kong began in February 2000 and is expected to reach its culmination with new Rules of the High Court in April 2009. Nine long years therefore separate its beginning and end. This article attempts to answer the questions 'Why did the process begin?', 'Where has it led?' and 'What will it mean for the courts, litigants and the legal profession?'. In doing so, the article considers the English Civil Procedure Rules, which form the basis of many of the new Rules of the High Court in Hong Kong. In particular it looks at the changes that may result from the introduction of the proposed underlying objectives, sanctioned offers and the expanded scope of discovery.published_or_final_versio

Limited liability partnerships in Hong Kong: Challenges and conundrums

On 18th June 2010 the Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Bill was gazetted in the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo). Over two years later, after much to-ing and fro-ing between the Government, the Hong Kong Law Society and LegCo members, the Bill was finally passed as the Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Ordinance (LPAO) on 12th July 2012. The LPAO introduces limited liability partnerships (LLPs) for solicitors’ firms, replacing the existing law by which every partner is jointly and severally liable for each and every one of their firm’s contractual and tortious obligations. This, in turn, will alter the relationship between each firm, its individual partners and their clients. When one considers that there are over 6,500 solicitors holding practicing certificates in Hong Kong, who deal with thousands of private individuals, small businesses and multinational corporations on everything from divorces and bail applications to M&As every day, the significance of the LPAO becomes apparent. This paper examines the reasons for the introduction of LLPs in Hong Kong; how such entities have been introduced and operate in other jurisdictions; the measures in the LPAO and their consequences; and other measures which could be adopted in the future.postprin

On the treatment of uncertainty in experimentally measured frequency response functions

Frequency response functions (FRFs) are routinely used within experimental structural dynamics, among other fields. The uncertainty associated with their measurement is typically modelled on the simplified assumption that additive uncorrelated noise is present. This treatment of FRF uncertainty is questioned here by demonstrating that the notion of operator uncertainty (i.e. the uncertainty due to inconsistent force excitation) introduces a correlation between measured FRFs which is not accounted for under the assumption of additive noise. The origin of this correlation is illustrated and its experimental presence verified. The importance of this correlation on the propagation of uncertainty is subsequently investigated as part of a numerical and experimental case study, where its influence on the inversion of an uncertain FRF matrix is considered. It is shown that the neglect of such correlations can lead to large errors in uncertainty estimates, for example in dynamic sub-structuring and the solution of inverse problems. Keywords: Frequency response function, structural dynamics, experimental, measurement, operator uncertaint

Expert evidence: The new rules

This paper considers the nature of expert evidence before turning to the criticisms made and reforms suggested by the Chief Justice’s Working Party on Civil Justice Reform (“CJR”) insofar as they concern its use in the Hong Kong civil courts. The paper then continues with an examination of the changes that will be brought about to the nature and role of expert evidence by virtue of the implementation of the CJR on 2 April 2009. It concludes with a summary and critique of those changes.postprin

A framework for the propagation of uncertainty in Transfer Path Analysis

Transfer Path Analysis (TPA) is a test-based methodology used to analyse the propagation of noise and vibration in complex systems. In this paper we present a covariance based framework for the propagation of experimental uncertainty in classical, blocked force, and component-based TPA procedures. The presence of both complex and correlated uncertainty is acknowledged through a bivariate description of the underlying uncertainty. The framework is summarised by a series of equations that propagate uncertainty through the various stages of a TPA procedure i.e. inverse source characterisation, dynamic sub-structuring, and forward response prediction. The uncertainty associated with rank ordering of source contributions is also addressed. To demonstrate the proposed framework a numerical simulation is presented, the results of which are compared against Monte-Carlo methods with good agreement obtained. An experimental study is also presented, where a blocked force TPA is performed on an electric steering system. The proposed uncertainty framework requires no additional experimental effort over and above what is performed in a standard TPA and may therefore be readily implemented into current TPA practices

Four Works For Trumpet: Compositions by: Torelli, La Barbera, Ewazen and Hovhaness

The works included in this recital paper are presented as a program of music that delves into the expressive range of the trumpet as a solo instrument, and its uses by composers of differing time periods and artistic directions. The composers of this program were deliberately selected for their extreme sensibilities and knowledge of the uses of trumpet as a solo instrument. In this paper works by Giuseppe Torelli, John La Barbera, Eric Ewazen and Alan Hovhaness are explored to benefit performers and audience members through an exposure to both standard and unique selections of the repertoire

'More ingenious than learned'? Examining the quest for the non-historical jesus

This paper seeks to scrutinise the debate about the historicity of Jesus and identify aspects that merit critical reflection by New Testament scholars. Although the question is regularly dismissed, it is a salient one that was formative in the development of the discipline, and has become increasingly visible since the turn of the century. However, the terminology employed by the protagonists is problematic, and the conventional historiography of the debate misleading. The characteristic tropes evident in the contributions are also indicative of substantive issues within the discipline of New Testament studies itself.</jats:p

Characterization of Atmospheric Aerosol Liquid Water Content Across the United States

Aerosol Liquid Water (ALW) is abundant and ubiquitous in the atmosphere, and is an important contributor to particulate matter pollution leading to negative impacts on human health and the environment. The purpose of this study is to characterize the levels of inorganic and organic ALW content across the United States to improve our understanding of ALW in the atmosphere. A climatology of ALW content is conducted using ten years data of inorganic and organic atmospheric composition encompassing a range of diverse cities at 46 sites, each at a different state across the United States. Data is provided by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Chemical Speciation Network (CSN). The organic portion of ALW content is calculated using Koehler’s theory based on concentrations of organics as well as their physical properties (i.e., density and hygroscopicity). As for inorganic water concentrations, these are simulated using ISORROPIAv2.1 aerosol thermodynamic equilibrium model. Concentrations of inorganics such as sulfate, ammonium, nitrate, and chloride are used together with meteorological data as inputs for the model. The total ALW content is calculated as the summation of inorganic and organic water. The characterization of seasonal inorganic and organic ALW levels will enhance our understanding of the main factors affecting ALW in the atmosphere. Results herein, will provide insight into the formation of atmospheric pollutants in the aqueous phase in order to devise control strategies to mitigate their detrimental impacts