September 25, 2025
Time:
10:15 am - 11:50 am
CR 2-07, SAHSOL, LUMS
The Centre for Chinese Legal Studies (CCLS) is pleased to invite you to an engaging session featuring Hon’able Justice Kemal Bokhary. This insightful discussion will explore the shared common law foundations and comparative legal approaches of Pakistan and Hong Kong, offering participants a unique perspective on the intersections of legal systems and judicial practices.
Abstract
Out of English common law origins, each jurisdiction of the common law world has developed its own common law. Of the many schools of Western jurisprudence, natural aw comes closest to the Sharia. The common law is founded on natural law. Pakistan and Hong Kong share common law roots. The dimensions of those shared roots include a constitutional dimension. Pakistan’s judiciary has the strength that comes from challenges bravely met. Legal practitioners in Pakistan pursue the founder’s profession. The legal academy in Pakistan can call relevantly to mind the time when and place where the chair was more influential than the bench. People in Pakistan and Hong Kong alike are committed to the rule of law. Their shared ideals are reflected in how constitutional cases are decided. In both jurisdictions, the law’s application and development are informed by due access to the courts, judicial independence, the attaching of importance to outcomes, innovation and the exercise of imaginative faculties. Although the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal does not initiate cases of its own motion, the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s practice of doing so when necessary has been written about with admiration in Hong Kong.
About the Speaker:
Hon’able Justice Kemal Shah Bokhary is a Non-Permanent Judge of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal and an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong.
He was called to the English Bar in 1970 by the Middle Temple (of which he was made an Honorary Bencher in 2001), admitted to the Hong Kong Bar in 1971, and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1983. From 1971 to 1989, he practiced in Hong Kong and before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, focusing on commercial law and public law. He was appointed to the High Court in 1989, the Court of Appeal in 1993, and ultimately the Court of Final Appeal in 1997.
During his fifteen years as a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, Justice Bokhary participated in almost every constitutional case before the Court and is widely respected for his deep sense of commitment and responsibility.
Participants may also join the session virtually via Zoom using the details provided below:
Join here.
Meeting ID: 953 8958 4360
Passcode: 018921
We look forward to your participation in this engaging discussion.
