Foreword to the Second Edition

 

The legal profession in Hong Kong, already indebted to Lawrence Ma's impressive work on equity and trust law in the region, will welcome the publication of the second edition. As the years pass since the resumption of sovereignty by the PRC, so the independence of Hong Kong law from its English progenitor will increase. Today the Hong Courts regard decisions of the High Court of Australia as of equal authority to those of the Privy Council, and with the establishment of their own Court of Final Appeal are creating a strong line of domestic authority, choosing where necessary between differing analyses which have been adopted by other legal systems and seeking to ensure that the law meets the needs of their own community.

 

The subject-matter of the present work includes some of the most controversial and disputed topics in the law. Academic and judicial commentators are disagreed about fundamental concepts such as resulting and constructive trusts, tracing, and proprietary remedies. Different analyses may be expected to be adopted in different common law jurisdictions, and in time the courts of Hong Kong will, no doubt, produce its own unique jurisprudence. Meanwhile the present work, replete not only with English and Australian case law but with copious citations of Hong Kong cases, will provide an indispensable guide to the local practitioner and an invaluable work of reference for practitioners in other jurisdictions.

 

 

 

Lord Millett NPJ

January 2009