PUBLIC JURIST

This issue of Public Jurist is dedicated to the latest book published by Dr. Enze Han, Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, HKU, entitled Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State Building Between China and Southeast Asia. His book proposes an alternative pathway to conceptualizing the idea of state formation by viewing it as an interactive process across state borders, and applies the theoretical framework to explain why Myanmar has failed to consolidate control over its borderland region. This issue includes a review of the book launch webinar hosted by Dr. Han earlier this year and a follow-up interview in which we explored deeper issues in relation to his work.

​This issue of Public Jurist recounts the episodes that shocked the international energy sector and looks at possible solutions acceptable to both giants. Contributors are all experts in the politics and economics of the international oil market. They include Mark N. Katz, Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council; Mamdouh G Salameh, an international oil economist and Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at the ESCP Europe Business School; Duccio Basosi, Associate Professor at Ca’ Foscari University Venice and Guy Burton, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at Vesalius College, Brussels.

This issue addresses the tensions inherent at the intersection of art and law. To the extent that art serves as a social vanguard, artists have constantly provoked and expanded jurisprudential discourse. From the authorisation of the label of art, to the activation of the legal apparatus in artistic creation, the consortium explores how art activates, provokes and interferes with the law at the nexus of such developments. Although primarily focusing on artwork and cases within the United States, the salient issues resonate in alternative geographical and cultural contexts.

This issue of Public Jurist probes into how the Enabling Act (commonly known as the emergency coronavirus legislation) passed in late March further decimates Hungarian democracy and asks whether Viktor Orbán’s illiberal democracy has finally triumphed. Contributors include Dr. Antal Attila, Senior Lecturer, Eötvös Loránd University; Professor Attila Ágh, Professor, Corvinus University of Budapest; Professor Tímea Drinóczi, Professor, University of Pécs; Professor Umut Korkut, Professor in International Politics, Glasgow Caledonian University; and Professor Matthijs Bogaards, Visiting Professor, Central European University.

This issue of Public Jurist explores the role and authority of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in an increasingly polarizing international political landscape, including delving into Hong Kong, China, and the United States. The issue features in-depth discussions from interviews with Mr. Stuart Harbinson, former permanent representative of HKSAR, China to WTO, and Professor Julien Chaisse, celebrated scholar on international economic law. Renowned scholars Dr. Ge Chen and Dr. Steve Charnovitz contributed illuminating commentaries on the WTO’s legacy and future.

This issue of Public Jurist explores the political and legal implications brought by the novel coronavirus, both domestically and internationally. Illuminating insights are offered from interviews with Professor Lai Ching-lung, Chair of Medicine and Hepatology at the Li Kai Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Hon. Pierre Chan, Legislative Council Member for the Medical functional constituency. Moreover, remarkable articles from renowned scholars, namely former European Commissioner for Health (2013-2014) Dr. Tonio Borg, Professor Markus Kornprobst, Dr. Stephanie A. Strobl, and Dr. Sylvester Chima, explore the global significance of COVID-19.

This symposium on 2020 Russian Constitutional Amendments brings together global scholars from Russia and beyond and attempts to unearth the meanings of these amendments. Contributors include Professor Richard Sakwa, Professor Eugene Huskey, Professor Sanjay Kumar Rajhans, Mr. Punsara Amarasinghe and Dr. Emil Avdaliani. Associate Professor Alexey D. Muraviev, Associate Professor of National Security and Strategic Studies at Curtin University, Western Australia was also interviewed on the implications of the amendments towards the geopolitical strategies of Russia as well as prospects of Russian Democracy, among other topics.