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The PKU-Helsinki Law Connection grows with a successful colloquium on criminal law

The Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki hosted the First Finnish-Chinese Colloquium on Criminal Law on 25-26 August 2016. The speakers discussed the transformation of criminal law and criminal law theory in Finland and China, sanctions and sentencing as well as criminalization and its limitations.

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The event took place in a friendly atmosphere and the mutual respect enabled a genuine exchange of ideas. The insightful presentations gave a great starting point for lively and fruitful discussion that engaged not only speakers but also the audience constituted by over 20 criminal law scholars as well as legal advisers from the Finnish Ministry of Justice.

The colloquium was organized within the PKU-Helsinki Law Connection, a partnership between Peking University Law School and the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki. With such support from the Universities’ leaderships, the two faculties have now decided to deepen the co-operation and establish the “PKU-Helsinki Law Connection” in March 2015. Further development took place exactly a year prior the colloquium in the very same premises, when a delegation lead by Dean Professor Zhang Shouwen visited the Faculty on 24-25 August 2015.  The aim of this partnership is to consolidate and make more visible the already existing and fruitful co-operation as well as to develop new forms of collaboration for the mutual benefit. The goal is to make the existing forms of co-operation, lecture series, joint-seminars, joint publications and staff mobility, a part of the permanent structure of both institutions.

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The doctoral student employment position, funded by the Herlin Fund, is filled

 

Following the Center’s call for a doctoral student employment position funded by the Herlin Fund (Tiina ja Antti Herlinin Säätiö), we are pleased to announced that Mr Kangle Zhang has been awarded the position as of 1 August 2016. He will be working on  a doctoral dissertation under the title: “Private Credit Rating in the Construction of Neoliberal Society” at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki.

In December 2015, the Center received a donation of 40 000€ from the (Tiina ja Antti Herlinin Säätiö). The purpose of this grant is to cover the salary of one PhD student for a year. A call for applications was circulated in April and May 2016. In response to this call we received 8 applications. All applications included a research plan, a work plan and a CV. The doctoral students who applied are enrolled in post-graduate programs at the University of Helsinki, University of Lapland and University of Turku.

In order to assess the applications, each Member University of the Center appointed a representative to the Selection Committee. The selection procedure began with the review of each applications by the members of the Committee. The members assessed the quality of the research plans and the competence of the candidates to carry out the project. By 9 June 2016, each member of the Committee shortlisted three to four candidates, whose qualifications and motivation were to be further assessed during interviews. The interviews took place on Monday, 13 June at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki. After interviewing the shortlisted applicants, the members of the selection committee agreed, that all candidates conduct relevant and promising research, yet Mr Kangle Zhang demonstrated the best competences to carry out his research project successfully and contribute to the further development of Sino-Finnish cooperation.

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CALL FOR PAPERS: Edited volume on the Silk Road Initiative

CALL FOR PAPERS 

Edited volume on the Silk Road Initiative

Following the Call for Papers, we have received generous interest in the volume. We are sending this updated call to: first, specify the theme of the volume to facilitate the potential contributors in choosing topics; second, extend the deadline of submission.

The volume is a follow up of the conference “Road to New Paradigms: Impact of China’s Silk Road Initiative in China, Central Asia and the EU”, which took place in Helsinki (9- 10 May). We have made the conference brochure available online, with the programme included. There you can find a list of panels with different focuses, which might be of help when you are deciding on the topic.

The theme of the volume will be, “Legal Aspects of the Belt and Road Initiative“, in which general and specific aspects and issues involved in the construction of the “belt and road”, in relation to laws (international, comparative and domestic), legal education, legal research and legal practice is expected to be discussed. Also, contributions focusing on the philosophical and political ideas of the Initiative are welcomed.

Regarding the submission, the deadline will be extended to 31 January 2017. As the overall length and style will only be confirmed after our communication with the publishing houses, which will happen when we have a draft outline after we have received the submissions, the length and style are not strictly set yet. Yet the submission is expected to be around 10,000 to 15,000 words. Submission should be made by sending the paper to Kangle Zhang (kangle.zhang@helsinki.fi  ) in Microsoft Word format. For inquiries, please contact Kangle Zhang.

 

If you have problems accessing the links to the conference brochure, please find it below:

Conference brochure: http://www.helsinki.fi/oikeustiede/SilkkiRoadProgramme.pdf

 

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New Publication: Rule of Law Development and Judicial Reform: A Comparison between China and Finland

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The Sino-Finnish collaboration has grown from strength to strength through common efforts and shared goals. The latest manifestation of this growing cooperation is the joint publication “Rule of Law Development and Judicial Reform: A Comparison between China and Finland“, edited by Professors Li Lin, Xie Zengyi and Ulla Liukkunen.

The book is the third volume in a series collecting the outcomes of the Annual Sino-Finnish Bilateral Seminars on Comparative Law. More specifically, the publication present the outcomes of the 6th Sino-Finnish International Seminar on Comparative Law and 7th Sino-Finnish Seminar on Comparative Law.

Nevertheless, this book should not be viewed merely as a collection of seminars papers, but rather a reflection of a shared interest in drawing legal comparison in the connection between different fields of substantive law.

 

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Sign-up for the 8th Sino-Finnish International Seminar on Comparative Law (6-7 June 2016)

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The Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, Hanken school of Economics and the University of Tampere warmly welcome you to participate in the 8th Sino-Finnish International Seminar on Comparative Law!

The Sino-Finnish International Seminar on Comparative Law brings together law professors from China and Finland to discuss current issues in the field of law. It is held in both countries alternately once a year.

This seminar will be held on 6 June 2016 in Helsinki and on 7 June 2016 in Tampere. This year seminar will focus on topics falling under the scope of intellectual property law, business law and taxation, as well as environmental law. The detailed program can be found on the event page.

The event is free of charge, but we kindly ask all interested to register by filling-in the online form available at https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/70860/lomake.html by Friday, 3 June 2016.

 

The PDF invitation including the program can be download here.

 

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The Center and the Confucius Institute in Helsinki discussed cooperation

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The Director of the Center, Professor Liukkunen, and the Chair of the Center’s Board, Professor Nuotio, welcomed a delegation from the Confucius Institute, led by Professor Julie Yu-Wen Chen on Friday, 13 May 2016. This visit gave the opportunity to discuss the cooperation between the two entities. “Lawyers, our researchers and students, need to cooperated with social sciences to better their understanding of the complex Chinese culture within which law operates“, emphasized Professor Nuotio. A step in this direction would be the organisation of joint seminars and workshops, which provide tools for legal research on China.

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IP KEY-Legislative Affairs Commission visits Hanken

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IP Key and Hanken host Chinese study visit to the EU by the Legislative Affairs Commission.

The SCNPC from the PRC took part in a round table discussion on the topic ‘Unfair Competition and intellectual property law developments in Europe’. During the discussion Hanken and IP Key explore the concept of unfair competition and intellectual property law in Europe and discuss how they may affect Chinese norm development.

Hanken is the only academic institute the SCNPC is visiting during their stay in Europe.

The roundtable was chaired by Professor Nari Lee, Hanken School of Economics, and featured experts such as Davide Follador, IP Key, Professor Dr Annette Kur, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Germany, Professor Dr Niklas Bruun Hanken, IPR University Center, and Dr Ulla-Maija Mylly, University of Turku, Faculty of Law.

China has recently published its draft proposal on anti-unfair competition regulation. International and European norms recognize the need to promote fairness in competition and business practices.

The concept of promotion for fair competition and protection against unfair competition is not clearly defined in the law nor harmonized and yet it is found embedded in various elements of the intellectual property law providing protection against confusion, false or misleading indications, free-riding in the course of trade, misappropriation, as well as various regulations against substantive and procedural abuse.

More information:
Professor Na Ri Lee
e-mail: nari.lee@hanken.fi
Telefone: +358 40 352 1769

Source: https://www.hanken.fi/en/news/ip-key-legislative-affairs-commission-visits-hanken 
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The New Silk Road Law Schools Alliance’s research seminar was held in Helsinki

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The International Conference on “Road to New Paradigms: Impact of China’s Silk Road Initiative in China, Central Asia and the EU” has been successfully held on 9-10 May at Helsinki. The conference was jointly organised by Faculty of Law, Aleksanteri Institute, Faculty of Social Science, of University of Helsinki, and School of Law of Xi’an Jiaotong University, in collaboration with The New Silk Road Law Schools Alliance.

Silk Road Initiative aims to bring together China, Central Asia, Russia and Europe. The five aspects of the Initiative are 1. policymaking and lawmaking; 2. infrastructure building; 3. trade; 4. currency exchange; and 5. public and social support.

So far the Initiative has mainly been focused on the economic aspect, but it is no less important to consider other aspects of the Initiative, in particular to look at what changes it might bring to political and legal arenas, and how it ties to the national identity and historical narratives of the European and Asian countries involved in the Initiative.

The aim of the conference was to go beyond the goal of economic development strongly underlined in the Initiative and focus on important but not yet discussed issues such as mobility, national identity or cultural and constitutional developments of Silk Road cooperation. The conference focused on both comparative pragmatic and theoretical aspects of these themes and aims to bring together scholars from countries participating in the Silk Road Initiative to share their perspectives on the Initiative and discuss its future impact.

Speakers from more than 10 countries across the silk road and 29 different institutions/organizations joined the conference, covering issues closely related to the “One Belt, One Road” initiative from different perspectives with different approaches.

 

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Professor Ignazio Castellucci gave us insights on the Rule of Law with Chinese Characteristics

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Professor Ignazio Castellucci (University of Trento) gave a guest lecture on the “Rule of Law with Chinese Characteristics” on Wednesday, 11 May 2016.

 

The presentation revolved around the Chinese relation with the law as a tool of governance in present-day People’s Republic of China. The current Chinese concept of fă zhì (法治), which could roughly be translated as rule of law or rule by law, is a fluid one indeed, being affected by Chinese elements such as the Chinese legal history, Confucianism and elements of the Chinese-socialist concept of ‘rule of law’’. The lecture provided the students with very valuable insights on the theoretical and historical foundations of Chinese law.

The Center’s Guest Lecture Series receives scholars from China and other countries to present the recent developments in specific fields of Chinese law or their research related to Chinese law and Chinese legal culture. The purpose of this series is to keep all interested well informed about the transformations within Chinese law as well as bring awareness of the research focus among China Law scholars. Moreover, the guest lecture series aims to facilitate a cross-border exchange of ideas and promote legal comparison.

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China Law cooperation is growing at the Nordic level

The Director of the Center, Professor Liukkunen, and the Chair of the Center’s Board, Professor Nuotio, welcomed a delegation from the University of Bergen, led by Vice-Dean Professor Borvik  on Monday, 2 May 2016. This visit gave the opportunity to discuss the cooperation between Nordic scholars focusing on Chinese Law. The meeting was attended as well by Professor Letto-Vanamo, Professor Ditlev Tamm, representing the Danish Forum for Chinese Legal Culture, Dean Professor Shan Wenhua from Xi’an Jiaotong University and Dean Professor Shen Wei from Shandong University Law School.

The Vice-Dean Bjørnar Borvik presented the ongoing and growing cooperation with China based on student and staff mobility. He also shared his plans of developing this cooperation further by elaborating research projects into their activities. All the participants agreed that there is a growing interest among scholars and practitioners in exploring Chinese law in Nordic countries as well as in understanding the Nordic model in China. Various cooperation schemes are developing and therefore the discussants pondered the relevance of establishing in the future a Nordic network of China Law Centers.

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President of the Finnish Supreme Court attended our guest lecture on Arbitration of International Financial Disputes in Shanghai

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Dean Professor Kimmo Nuotio, Dean Professor Shan Wenhua, Justice Timo Esko, Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Dean Professor Shen Wei

 

Professor Shen Wei, Dean of the Shandong University Law School, gave a guest lecture on Arbitration of International Financial Disputes in Shanghai on Monday, 2 May  2016.

The talk presented the latest developments of international commercial arbitration in China and Shanghai’s plan to turn itself to be a global financial center. The lecture gave detailed insights regarding the implementation of Shanghai’s strategy to build up dispute resolutions platforms for financial disputes. Following the interesting presentation, the audience counting mostly practitioners, including the President of the Finnish Supreme Court Timo Esko, engaged into a discussion on the challenges faced by practitioners of trans-border arbitration and the growing importance of China.

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The Center’s Guest Lecture Series receives scholars from China and other countries to present the recent developments in specific fields of Chinese law or their research related to Chinese law and Chinese legal culture. The purpose of this series is to keep all interested well informed about the transformations within Chinese law as well as bring awareness of the research focus among China Law scholars. Moreover, the guest lecture series aims to facilitate a cross-border exchange of ideas and promote legal comparison.

 

Professor Ulla Liukkunen and Dean Professor Shen Wei
Professor Ulla Liukkunen and Dean Professor Shen Wei

At the occasion of his visit to Finland, Professor Shen Wei has donated to the Center’s library collection his latest publication: “Investor Protection in the Capital Markets: The Case of Hong Kong“. This publication focuses on and applies the investor protection benchmarks as set out in the 2014 (new) Companies Ordinance and Securities and Futures Ordinance, ranging across the following main topics: Hong Kong’s regulatory framework for the capital markets in general; Regulation of issuers through the disclosure regime; Regulation of intermediaries; Investor compensation schemes; Market misconducts regulated by the Securities and Futures Ordinance as provided for in the Securities and Futures Ordinance; Approved Trading Services (ATS); Lehman Brothers’ minibonds saga and investor protection issue in the context of structured financial products regulation; Heated debates on HKEx’s rejection of Alibaba’s request to be listed in Hong Kong.