Hong Kong archives guide: Hong Kong

This guide was created by Clare Cowling, IALS Archivist.

Email: ials.archives@sas.ac.uk

The records below, which hold specific references to Hong Kong, were transferred to the Records of Legal Education Archives (now subsumed into the IALS Archives) by individuals and organisations with a particular interest in legal education, both the UK and abroad. 

Related material: in addition to the specific references to Hong Kong in the records of the Archives, there is probably information of relevance in the records covering the Commonwealth and Asia generally.  For these records see the IALS Archives Subject Guide: Colonialism, Decolonisation and the Law. To browse the Archives catalogues for more information, see this link: https://ials.sas.ac.uk/ials-library/archives/ials-archives-collections

Access: some items are closed to public access as they contain personal data. Item descriptions are nevertheless included in this guide as indicative of the various organisations’ work relating to legal education in Hong Kong.

All the records, other than those containing personal data, may be viewed by prior appointment in the IALS Library. Closed items are designated in red.  Requests for an appointment to examine any of the records should be made to the Archivist (ials.archives@sas.ac.uk).  

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Council of Legal Education (CLE): Archives, 1852-1997

Administrative history: the Council of Legal Education (CLE) was established by Resolutions of the Inns of Court in 1852, following the recommendation that year of a Legal Education Committee of the Four Inns. The CLE was entrusted with the power and duty of superintending the education and examination of students who had been admitted to the Inns and was to consist of an equal number of Benchers appointed by each of the Inns. Five Readerships or Professorships were set up, to each deliver three courses of lectures per year. Students were required to attend a certain number of lectures and to pass public examinations.  The examinations were held thrice yearly, in Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity terms. The CLE was given the power to grant dispensations to students unable to attend all required lectures.

The CLE continued to oversee legal education for the Bar until 1997. In that year the CLE transferred most of its responsibilities and assets to the ICSL. Its responsibility for supporting education and training for the Bar was passed to a new body, the Inns of Court and Bar Educational Trust (ICBET), while its regulatory function was passed to the General Council of the Bar. In 1997 the CLE ceased to operate.  

The records: some records may be closed to access under the ICBET’s 30 year closure rule. Others, which contain personal data, are closed for 75 years under the Data Protection Act. Closed items are designated in red.

Selected items:

CLE 47: Dean's Overseas Correspondence, alphabetically arranged, 1959-1994

Commonwealth Legal Association (CLEA): Records, 1971-1995

Administrative history: the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) was founded during the Fourth Commonwealth Law Conference in New Delhi in 1971.  The idea was initiated by Indian lawyer Dr Laxmi Singhvi, CLEA's first chairman. The Association's objects were to foster high standards of legal education and research in Commonwealth countries: to build up contacts between interested individuals and organizations, and to disseminate information and literature concerning legal education and research.

The CLEA's structure, objectives and functions are set out in its Constitution, adopted soon after its foundation. Membership is open to individuals, schools of law and other institutions concerned with legal education and research.  Patrons are appointed from various Commonwealth countries. The affairs of the Association are managed by an Executive Committee, drawn from the Commonwealth regions, which meets annually: its actions are reviewed at 5 yearly General Meetings, the first of which was held in Edinburgh during the Fifth Commonwealth Law Conference in 1977. There is an Advisory Panel in the United Kingdom. The administration of the Association was carried out by a chairman and two secretaries, one in London and one abroad. In 1990 the office of chairman was replaced by a president and executive chairperson (since renamed vice president).  The President may be elected from any part of the Commonwealth: the Vice President must be established in the UK.  In 1994 a South Asian regional chapter was formed.

Selected items:

CLEA 01: Secretary's Correspondence and Papers, alphabetically arranged, 1971-1991

CLEA 02: Papers of W L Twining as a CLEA Officer, 1973-1994

Biographical note: William Lawrence Twining (b.1934) has had a long and distinguished career in law teaching and has been involved in many projects relating to legal education.  He was educated at Charterhouse School, Brasenose College, Oxford and the University of Chicago.  He has been Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Khartoum (1958-1961), Senior Lecturer in Law at University College, Dar-es-Salaam (1961-1965), Professor of Jurisprudence at the Queen's University, Belfast (1965-1972) and Professor of Law at the University of Warwick (1972-1982).  From 1983-1996 he was the Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London.  

He has edited many publications concerning legal education, including Legal Records in the Commonwealth (joint editor with E Varnden Quick), for the papers of which project see the Commonwealth Legal Records Project (CLRP) collection in the IALS Archives.

Professor William Twining was a CLEA officer as follows:

• Advisory Panel member 1977-1983
• Executive Committee member 1980-1983
• Chairman/President 1983-1990
• Executive Chairman 1990-1994

Scope, content and arrangement: the Twining papers include material relating to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), 1988-1990.  CHRI was an area in which the CLEA was involved primarily as a member and supporter.  CLEA nominated one member to CHRI and had representatives on the CHRI's Advisory Commission and Steering Committee: William Twining was one of those representatives.  CLEA also played a major role in drafting the CHRI report Put our World to Rights.  

Selected items:

CLEA 07: Conference on emerging educational challenges for law in Commonwealth Asia and Australasia: the implications for Legal Education – conference papers, 1992

Administrative history: this conference was run by the CLEA together with the Hong Kong Law Teachers’ Association, the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong from April 10-12, 1992.  

Administrative History: the International Law Association (ILA) was founded in Brussels in 1873 as an association 'to consist of Jurists, Economists, Legislators, Politicians and others taking an interest in the question of the reform and Codification of Public and Private International Law, the Settlement of Disputes by Arbitration, and the assimilation of the laws, practice and procedure of the Nations in reference to such laws' (afternoon sitting of the first conference of members, 19 November 1873: reference ILA 01/01). It was initially called the Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, changing its title to the International Law Association in the early 20th century. 

The Association was to consist of a Council of officers comprising a President, vice presidents, secretaries and other members of the Conference (called the Bureau), plus a series of local, departmental or provincial committees who were to report to the President. These committees have since expanded into International Committees. The ILA's activities are now organised by an Executive Council, assisted by the Headquarters Secretariat in London. Membership of the Association, at present about 4,200, is spread among branches throughout the world and ranges from lawyers in private practice, academia, industrial and financial spheres, and representatives of bodies such as shipping and arbitration organisations and chambers of commerce. The ILA has consultative status, as an international non-governmental organisation, with a number of the United Nations specialised agencies. 

The ILA's objectives are pursued primarily through the work of its International Committees and the focal point of its activities is the series of Biennial Conferences. These conferences, of which over 70 have so far been held in different locations throughout the world, provide a forum for the comprehensive discussion and endorsement of the work of the committees.

Selected items:

ILA 04: Regional branches of the ILA: records, 1877-2013

ILA 04/43 International Law Association in Hong Kong, 1980-1989

The Law Society (LSOC): Examination Records, 1836-1989

Administrative History:  The Law Society was founded in London in 1825 as the Society of Attorneys, Solicitors, Proctors and others not being barristers, having been previously established in 1823 as The London Law Institution. It acquired its first Royal Charter in 1831 and a further charter in 1845 established it as an independent professional organisation. The Society has delivered legal education in England since 1835 and has set examinations since 1836.   From 1887-1984 these were also set for those sitting the examination in the colonies and Commonwealth.

Finding aids: records up to 1946 have been digitised by Ancestry and access to the digitised versions, including downloading digital copies for private research, is subject to Ancestry’s terms and conditions. To find the examination record of any individual in the collection search here: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62335/ .

Selected items:

LSOC 14: Colonial and Commonwealth Examinations, 1887-1984

Biographical history: William Lawrence Twining (b.1934) has had a long and distinguished career in law teaching and has been involved in many projects relating to legal education. He was educated at Charterhouse School, Brasenose College, Oxford and the University of Chicago.

He was Chair of the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) from 1983-1993 and Supervisor of the Commonwealth Legal Records Project (records held in the IALS Archives; ref: CLRP). 

University posts:

• Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Khartoum (1958-1961)
• Senior Lecturer in Law at University College, Dar-es-Salaam (1961-1965)
• Professor of Jurisprudence at the Queen's University, Belfast (1965-1972)
• Professor of Law at the University of Warwick (1972-1982)
• Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London (1983-1996)
• Director of University of London LLM Review (1992-1993)

Selected items:

TWIN 02: Papers relating to organisations and bodies of which Prof Twining was a member, 1965-1996

Extent and form: 8.5 archive boxes

Access: see subseries descriptions for specific closure periods.

System of arrangement: Arranged chronologically during cataloguing.

Copyright in published articles: vested in the authors

TWIN 02/01: Papers and publications from The Law Society, 1974-1995

Extent and form: 12 items

Item list:

TWIN 03: Papers relating to research projects, 1965-2014

TWIN 03/05: Research for Learning Lawyers' Skills, 1970s-1987

Extent and form: 8 items

Scope and content: research material and submissions for Learning Lawyers’ Skills (working titles the skills book and Teaching Lawyering Skills: The State of the Art), edited by Neil Gold, Karl Mackie and Prof Twining.  The volume was produced by the Commonwealth Institute for Legal Education and Training (CILET).  Correspondence with law schools is annotated with a reference code, indicating it was part of a filing scheme.