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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐊𝐔 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥, 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡. It brings together bioethicists, academic lawyers, medical scientists, and other scholars to conduct cutting edge bioethical and legal research and contribute to policy development in flagship areas like population and global health, mental health and capacity, and digital health and emergent technologies.

02/06/2026

📢 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗛𝗞𝗨 & 𝗖𝗨𝗛𝗞 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀!

As you may be aware, the 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚-𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙊𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 takes effect on 31 July 2026. Are you ready to navigate advance care planning and end-of-life conversations?

Prof. Emmanuel Cheung (HKU Centre for Medical Ethics and Law) & Dr. Ann Lau (CUHK Centre for Bioethics香港中文大學生命倫理學中心) invite you to take part in a 10-minute anonymous survey exploring medical students' knowledge and preparedness in this important area.

✅ Voluntary & confidential (only aggregate data reported)
✅ Open to MBBS (The University of Hong Kong) & MBChB (The Chinese University of Hong Kong 香港中文大學 - CUHK) students
✅ Ethics approved (HREC, HKU – EA250716)
🔗 Take the survey here: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eW35gjGnwzz98iy

Your insights truly matter. Questions? Reach out to Prof. Cheung ([email protected]) or Dr. Lau ([email protected]). You can also send us a message directly!

Let's get the conversation started — your input lights the way. Thanks for being part of this! ✨

HKU Centre for Medical Ethics and Law CUHK Medicine CUHK Centre for Bioethics香港中文大學生命倫理學中心

28/05/2026

📌Event Title: Author Meets Critics: Re-considering the Ethics of Slow Codes
📌Tue 2 Jun | 3pm-4:30pm HKT
📌Venue: 3SR-Lecture Theatre 1, 1/F, HKUMed Academic Building, No. 3 Sassoon Road, The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

🔗Registration and details: https://cmel.hku.hk/events/author-meets-critics-re-considering-the-ethics-of-slow-codes/

Abstract
A recent publication invites the readers to re-consider the ethics of slow codes, otherwise known as show codes. These are sub-optimal resuscitative efforts. This practice is potentially very common yet controversial. In this session we will revisit this practice and critically review the recent publication that justifies it. The publication can be seen here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12245-026-01161-w

Speakers
Prof Emmanuel Cheung
Clinical Assistant Professor of Practice, Critical Care Medicine Unit, HKUMed and Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit (joint appointment), School of Clinical Medicine, HKU

Prof Teresa Kuan
Associate Professor, Anthropology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong 香港中文大學人類學系

Dr Zohar Lederman
Clinical Practitioner, HKUMed Emergency Medicine, HKU

Prof Craig Purshouse
Associate Professor, HKU Faculty of Law
Deputy Director, HKU Centre for Medical Ethics and Law
Deputy Director, Centre for Private Law
HKU

HKU Medicine

26/05/2026

“Mixed Medicine: Plural Healing Cultures” Symposium

📌Date & Time:
28 May 2026, 9:15-17:15 (Day One)
29 May 2026, 9:15-12:30 (Day Two)
📌Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, 1/F, HKUMed Academic Building, 3 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam

🔗Register here: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=106656

🔗Learn more: https://mehu.hku.hk/25-26-mixed-medicine/

Abstract
‘Mixed Medicine: Plural Healing Cultures’ is an interdisciplinary symposium that will be held over one and a half days from 28-29 May, 2026 at the University of Hong Kong. This event is co-organised by the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit (MEHU) and the Department of History, with the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law (CMEL) as a supporting organisation. The symposium will feature a keynote session, individual and panel presentations and a roundtable discussion to close the event.

The symposium will examine the cultural, historical and practical intersections between diverse healing philosophies and explore the dynamics of medical pluralism, the challenges of integrating different medical systems and the complex forces shaping the outcomes, from the parallel development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western medicine frameworks in Hong Kong to their extensive intersecting networks with other healing systems regionally and globally.

Wide-ranging presentations from history, anthropology, social sciences, ethics and the medical humanities to medicine, public health and allied health disciplines will explore how different medical systems have complemented, co-existed and clashed within various geopolitical contexts and timeframes and ask how the narratives of healing have influenced cultural identities and shaped the ethics surrounding healthcare. The presentations will contribute to the discourse on medical pluralism and transcultural healthcare exchanges in an era of globalisation. We welcome scholars, teachers, healthcare professionals and students to join this timely and ongoing conversation.

Keynote Speaker:
Professor Clara Bik-San LAU, The University of Hong Kong

Speakers/ Moderators (In alphabetical order of surnames):

Dr Kelvin CHAN, Hong Kong Baptist University
Professor Emmanuel CHEUNG, The University of Hong Kong
Mr Ivan FAN, The University of Hong Kong
Prof Carl HILDEBRAND, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Pauline Po-Ling LUK, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Andrew Thomas PARK, The University of Hong Kong
Ms Zhaohe SHI, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Ria SINHA, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Md. Sanwar SIRAJ, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Alison SO, The University of Hong Kong
Ms Xiaofan SUN, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Bobby TAM, The University of Hong Kong
Ms Cecilia TAM, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Carol TSANG, The University of Hong Kong
Ms Lory Shiu Tze WONG, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Danqing YIN, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Jingjing ZHOU, The University of Hong Kong

Co-organisers:
Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit (MEHU), The University of Hong Kong

Supporting Organisation:
Centre for Medical Ethics and Law (CMEL), The University of Hong Kong

HKU Centre for Medical Ethics and Law
HKU Faculty of Law
HKU Medicine
History Department, HKU
The University of Hong Kong

For general inquiries, please contact Mr Edison Cheng at [email protected].

07/05/2026

Should assisted dying be legalised? Register NOW to attend our symposium on assisted dying.

Event: International Symposium on Medically Assisted Dying: Global Trends and Asian Perspectives
Sat 23 May | 9am - 5pm HKT
Venue: 11/F, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Details: https://cmel.hku.hk/events/international-symposium-on-medically-assisted-dying-global-trends-and-asian-perspectives/

Abstract
Many jurisdictions have legislation that allows terminally ill patients to voluntarily end their lives, either through self-administration of medication or with assistance from healthcare staff. While medically assisted dying may be ethically justified in liberal societies that value personal autonomy and self-determination, it is essential to consider what is morally appropriate in other cultural contexts, such as Hong Kong. This international symposium seeks to explore diverse cultural perspectives on the ethical and legal challenges associated with medically assisted dying. Its primary goal is to foster cross-cultural dialogue among distinguished scholars, ethicists, legal experts, clinicians, and policymakers to identify common ground, inform future research, and develop inclusive, ethically sound, and culturally relevant legislative proposals for Hong Kong.

Speakers (in alphabetical order by last names)
1. Prof Duan-Rung CHEN, National Taiwan University
2. Prof Mark J. CHERRY, St. Edward's University
3. Ms Daisy CHEUNG, The University of Edinburgh
4. Prof Emmanuel Cheung, The University of Hong Kong
5. Prof Ruiping FAN, City University of Hong Kong
6. Prof Chris GASTMANS, KU Leuven
7. Prof Mohammed GHALY, Hamad Bin Khalifa University
8. Prof Ana S. ILTIS, Wake Forest University
9. Dr Md Sanwar SIRAJ, The University of Hong Kong
10. Dr Simon WALKER, University of Otago
11. Prof Jue WANG, Xi'an Jiaotong University
12. Prof Ben WHITE, Queensland University of Technology
13. Prof Ellen Y. ZHANG, University of Macau

HKU Faculty of Law
HKU Medicine
Hong Kong Academy of Medicine
The University of Hong Kong

30/04/2026

[REGISTER NOW] Patient Complaints and Medical Professional Regulation: Perspective from Singapore and Hong Kong

📌Date: 2 May 2026 (Saturday)
📌Time: 9:00am - 12:20pm HKT
📌Format: Online Webinar via Zoom
🔗Registration and details: https://mehu.hku.hk/patient-complaints-and-medical-professional-regulation/

Abstract:
Medical professionalism lies at the heart of contemporary healthcare regulation, shaping expectations of ethical conduct, competence, and accountability. Patient complaints are a key arena in which professionalism is asserted, tested, and redefined through regulatory practice. This seminar offers a comparative examination of patient complaint mechanisms and medical professional regulation in Singapore and Hong Kong. It explores how medical councils receive, investigate, and adjudicate complaints, and how regulatory responses reflect differing understandings of professional responsibility and patient protection. Drawing on a decade-long review of local disciplinary cases, the seminar examines how regulators have interpreted and operationalized medical professionalism in response to public accountability. By situating doctrinal and empirical insights alongside comparative analysis, the seminar reflects on the continuing importance of medical professionalism in disciplinary practice and considers how regulatory responses may shape its development moving forward in increasingly complex healthcare environments.

Enquiry:
Please contact Mr Edison Cheng ([email protected]).

HKU Centre for Medical Ethics and Law
HKU Faculty of Law
HKU Medicine
The University of Hong Kong
CUHK Centre for Bioethics香港中文大學生命倫理學中心
SingHealth Duke-NUS Lung Centre

17/04/2026

[Register NOW] Negligence: The Elusiveness of the Illegality Defence

Date & time: 27 Apr (Mon) | 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm (HKT)
Venue: Academic Conference Room, 11/F, Cheng Yu Tung Tower Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong
Registration and details: http://cmel.hku.hk/upcoming-events

This is an in-person event.

Abstract:
When a patient kills friends and strangers, and is thereafter detained by court order (whether for murder, or for manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, or for detention on the grounds of insanity), then that same patient may seek to sue their treating doctors and/or health authority for negligence. The allegation, typically, is that the defendants failed to provide the patient with adequate care and mental health assessment, thereby allowing the killings to occur. In response, the defence of illegality will typically be pleaded by the defendants against the patient. The principles governing the application of the illegality defence have long been mired in controversy, uncertainty, and schisms amongst leading jurists. The recent decision of the UK Supreme Court in Lewis-Ranwell v G4S Health Services (UK) Ltd [2026] UKSC 2 is the latest judicial examination of the topic, and its implications for both UK and Hong Kong jurisprudence are wide-reaching.

Speaker:
Prof Rachael Mulheron KC (Hon) FBA, Professor of Tort Law and Civil Justice, Queen Mary University of London

Chair:
Prof Craig Purshouse, Deputy Director of the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law & Deputy Director of the Centre for Private Law, The University of Hong Kong

Organiser:
HKU Centre for Medical Ethics and Law , The University of Hong Kong

Supporting Organisations:
Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit (MEHU), The University of Hong Kong
Centre for Private Law, The University of Hong Kong

HKU Faculty of Law
HKU Medicine
The University of Hong Kong
Queen Mary University of London

15/04/2026

Book Talk: Medical Negligence and the Duty to Advise – Beyond Autonomy

Date & time: 21 April (Tue) | 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm (HKT)
Venue: Academic Conference Room, 11/F, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Registration and details: https://cmel.hku.hk/events/book-talk-medical-negligence-and-the-duty-to-advise-beyond-autonomy/

Abstract:
This work argues that patient autonomy and medical negligence make for strange bedfellows. The emphasis on autonomy has distorted orthodox negligence principles, contributing to uncertainty and angst amongst healthcare professionals while eroding trust in the doctor-patient relationship. This work takes the current discourse beyond autonomy – which focuses on the rights of the patient, to agency and shared decision-making – which focus on the relationship between doctor and patient. The core argument is built on a review of the theoretical foundations of negligence and the philosophical conceptions of autonomy. Provocatively, this work argues against a rights-based approach to negligence – which can be confrontational – in favour of a human obligations approach, which is collaborative and thus well suited to the doctor-patient relationship. Drawing on the theoretical analysis, the book identifies doctrinal anomalies in the duty of care, standard of care, causation, and damage. It critically analyses landmark UK Supreme Court cases, including Chester v Afshar [2005] 1 AC 134, Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] AC 1430, and McCulloch v Forth Valley Health Board [2024] AC 925, arguing that the law increasingly is detached from the realities of medical practice and reasonable expectations of patients.

Speaker:
Prof Kumaralingam Amirthalingam, NUS Law

HKU Faculty of Law
HKU Medicine
The University of Hong Kong
Hart Publishing

09/04/2026

Talk: "The Crime of Crimes: A Legal and Ethical Analysis of Genocide"
Tue 14 April | 7:00 pm — 8:30 pm HKT
Registration & Details: https://cmel.hku.hk/events/the-crime-of-crimes-a-legal-and-ethical-analysis-of-genocide/

Speaker:
Dr Shmuel Lederman
Teaching Fellow of the Multidisciplinary Department (Eshkol), אוניברסיטת חיפה - University of Haifa
Teaching Fellow of the Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies, The Open University of Israel

The abstract below and any views expressed at this event do not represent the views of HKU.

Dr Shmuel Lederman’s abstract:
“As the Israeli violence in Gaza continues, and while the International Court of Justice still weighs in on the question of genocide committed by Israel in Gaza, legal and non-legal scholars still debate this question. This seems perplexing to those of us who witness the ongoing devastation in Gaza. This workshop aims to trace the origins of the Convention against Genocide, its legal standing, and the differences between the legal definition of genocide and its various definitions among genocide scholars. A special focus will be placed on the current health conditions, including social conditions of health in Gaza, including access to foodstuff, access to hospitals in Gaza and Israel, safe housing, etc.”

HKU Faculty of Law
HKU Medicine
HKUMed Emergency Medicine
The University of Hong Kong

01/04/2026

[Open for Registration]

Following the very positive feedback received from the participants on the seminar “Medical Consent: Practical Implications for Hong Kong” delivered by Prof. Rachael Mulheron, Honorary King’s Counsel and Fellow of the British Academy, in April last year, we are honoured to have Prof. Mulheron deliver another lecture for us. This seminar, titled the “Seminar on Bolitho’s Complicated Impact, 70 Years On from Bolam”, is scheduled for 28 April 2026 (Tuesday), 6:00pm – 7:45pm.

This seminar will visit the cases of Bolam and Bolitho, focusing on Medical Negligence. Seventy years ago, Mr. Bolam’s filed his claim in negligence against his treating psychiatrist, where the case has come to govern the test of breach for medical negligence across the common law world. Since then, however, the case brought by Patrick Bolitho, and decided 40 years later in 1997, has had equally impactful consequences on medico-legal litigation. The interaction between the two cases in relation to claims and Bolitho’s impact upon Bolam continues to vex and develop. This seminar will examine and discuss its complicated and decades-long impact on medico-legal litigation.

In-person and online attendance are both welcome. Please register at https://online.hkam.org.hk/form/pec20260428 on or before 20 April 2026 (Monday).

We look forward to your participation in this seminar.

For any enquiries, please contact us at [email protected].

30/03/2026

“Mixed Medicine: Plural Healing Cultures’ Symposium” (28-29 May 2026)
Call for Abstracts
Deadline: 10 Apr 2026
Details: https://mehu.hku.hk/25-26-mixed-medicine-call-for-abstracts/

This timely event will examine the cultural, historical and practical intersections between diverse healing philosophies and explore the dynamics of medical pluralism, the challenges of integrating different medical systems and the complex forces shaping the outcomes, from the parallel development of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medicine frameworks in Hong Kong to their extensive intersecting networks with other healing systems regionally and globally. We welcome papers that consider comparative, transcultural, historical and contemporary perspectives across disciplines.

We welcome wide-ranging discussions exploring how different medical systems have complemented, co-existed, and clashed within various geopolitical contexts and timeframes. How have narratives of healing influenced cultural identities and shaped the ethics surrounding healthcare? How have they contributed to the discourse on medical pluralism and transcultural healthcare exchanges in an era of globalization? The symposium encourages scholars across disciplines, from history, anthropology, social sciences, ethics and the medical humanities to medicine, public health and allied health disciplines, to delve into the histories of the co-evolution of diverse medical systems, rather than focusing on a single system. Papers discussing any aspect or timeframe of this co-evolution are welcome.

Abstract Topics
We welcome submissions on the following themes (not limited to):
• Cultural ethics and philosophies in healing
• Historical development of plural healing practices and their sociocultural significance
• Medical education and curricula
• Narratives by practitioners and healers
• Patient perspectives and experiences
• Policy and regulation in the evolution of mixed healing cultures
• Artistic expressions and their impact on medical practices
• Health messaging
• Medical infrastructure

Co-organisers:
Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit (MEHU), HKU Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
History Department, HKU, Faculty of Arts, HKU

Supporting Organisation:
HKU Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, HKU Faculty of Law & HKU Medicine, HKU

Address

Hong Kong

Telephone

+85239171845

Website

https://cmel.hku.hk/

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