FCC club event special

Speakers:
Albert HO
Chairman, China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group

Eva PILS
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Topic: A Sword and A Shield: China’s Human Rights Lawyers

Albert HO will talk about the ideas that inspired the authors of this book, published by the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group. Contributions to the book came from prominent lawyers and legal academics in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan and the United States. Mr. HO will share his personal views and insights about the risks of being a human rights lawyer in China, and discuss how outstanding individuals have overcome these risks to do their important work.

Eva PILS will offer some further observations on what her own article in the book calls the “dislocation” of the Chinese Human Rights Movement, describing how the repression of human rights defenders, especially in the past few years, has triggered a variety of domestic civil society responses in support of their efforts.

Albert HO is the Chairman of China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, an organisation he co-founded with legislator Emily LAU and several barristers, solicitors and academics in January 2007 to give support to mainland lawyers for their continued dedication to human rights work. Mr. HO is a practising lawyer and an elected legislator in Hong Kong. He is also currently the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong. Eva PILS studied in Heidelberg (Germany), London and China, and holds a PhD in law from the University of London. Her scholarship focuses on human rights and social justice in China, with publications addressing the role and situation of Chinese human rights defenders, property law and land rights in China, the status of migrant workers, the Chinese petitioning system and conceptions of justice in China.