An Evidence-Based Approach to the Criminal Law Syllabus in Hong Kong

Abstract

Criminal law course content and pedagogy are arguably outdated. Most criminal law syllabi throughout the common law world, including in Hong Kong, primarily focus on homicide, other violent offences, sexual offences, and property offences. They do this largely for traditional reasons - because these are the crimes which the syllabus has always focused on. Research as part of this 18-month Teaching Development Grant proposal will utilise data on crime statistics in Hong Kong as well as a self-reporting survey of criminal law practitioners in an effort to more closely align the LLB criminal law teaching syllabus with the realities of legal practice in Hong Kong. Through novel discovery-based learning assessments focusing on crimes which practitioners most commonly encounter in the court system, LLB criminal law students at City University of Hong Kong stand to benefit from this research by becoming better prepared to practise criminal law upon graduation, by being more closely informed about the reality of criminal practice as they make decisions on their future careers, and by gaining greater ownership over and self-confidence from the knowledge they themselves attain while studying criminal law.