Media

Renowned Human Rights Expert Professor Hurst Hannum joins the Faculty of Law, HKU

01 Mar 2006

 

The Faculty of Law is pleased with the appointment of Professor Hurst Hannum as the Sir YK Pao Chair in Public Law at the University of Hong Kong since 11 January 2006. He succeeds Professor Yash Ghai who had served as the Sir YK Pao Chair for 16 years since 1989 and retired at the end of last year.

In his tribute to Professor Ghai, Professor Johannes Chan SC, Dean of the Faculty of Law, said, "I have the great privilege of working with Prof Ghai as a colleague in all these years. We started a modest course on human rights in the early nineties, which has developed to a full fledge LLM(HR) programme later in mid-nineties. This is the only human rights programme that has a distinct focus on Asia, and over the years we have trained many students from Asian countries who went on to serve human rights causes in their own countries after graduation from here. Indeed, throughout these 16 years, he has contributed immensely in laying a strong foundation in our public law and human rights development, which has now become an area of excellence in the Faculty."

Professor Hannum has a wide range of academic interests and practical experience in the field of human rights. His research focuses primarily on minority rights, self-determination, humanitarian intervention, human rights during emergency situations, international organizations, constitutional law, and the role of human rights in conflict resolution. In addition to consulting work, he has served as legal counsel in a number of cases brought before European, American, and UN human rights forums.

Among other publications, Professor Hannum is the co-author of International Human Rights: Problems of Law, Policy, and Practice (with R B Lillich, S J Anaya, and D Shelton) (Aspen, 2006); Autonomy, Sovereignty, and Self-Determination: The Accommodation of Conflicting Rights (Univ. of Pennsylvania, rev. ed. 1996); and numerous articles in professional journals. He is also editor of Negotiating Self-Determination (with E. Babbitt) (Lexington, 2006) and Guide to International Human Rights Practice (Transnational, 4th ed. 2004).

Professor Hannum observed that "it is my honour to follow in the steps of the first holder of the Sir YK Pao Chair, Professor Yash Ghai, and I believe that my appointment is further evidence of the strong commitment to human rights and public law that has characterized the Faculty of Law at HKU for many years. I look forward to continuing my research in the areas of autonomy and minority rights in Asia, and I hope that the coming years will see continuing advances in awareness and protection of human rights in the region."

Professor Johannes Chan SC welcomed Professor Hannum by saying, "Professor Hannum's arrival is an excitement for the Faculty. His impressive expertise and ongoing research on human rights and international law will definitely further strengthen the Faculty's strength in the areas of public law and human rights."

Coming from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (USA), Professor Hannum has served as a consultant to the UN Higher Commissioner for Human Rights on issues ranging from minority rights to the situations in Afghanistan, East Timor, Western Sahara, Indonesia (Aceh), Sri Lanka and Kashmir. He has also served on the boards of a number of non-governmental human rights organizations, including International Human Rights Law Group (now Global Rights, Washington DC), International Service for Human Rights (Geneva) and Amnesty International USA. He serves on the editorial advisory boards of Human Rights Law Review and Human Rights Quarterly. He is a frequent media commentator on international relations and legal issues.

Professor Hannum received his A.B. with High Honors in Political Science and French and Juris Doctor (JD) degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. He has been honoured by Tufts University for outstanding faculty achievement in 2001 and as recipient of the Allan MacLeod Cormack Award for collaborative student-teacher research in 1995.

Media interviews with Professor Hannum can be arranged for interested parties. For further enquiries, please contact Ellie Yung of Faculty of Law by phone at 2859 2919 or via ellie.yung@hku.hk.