About Me
Alvin Y.H. Cheung is an Assistant Professor at Queen’s University Faculty of Law and a Non-Resident Affiliated Scholar at NYU's U.S.-Asia Law Institute. His doctoral project, "Abusive Legalism," addresses the systematic abuse of sub-constitutional legal norms and institutions by authoritarian regimes.
Alvin holds degrees from NYU (J.S.D. 2020; LL.M. in International Legal Studies, 2014) and Cambridge (M.A. 2011), and has worked in Hong Kong as a barrister and as a lecturer in Law & Public Affairs at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Alvin has written and presented extensively about developments in Hong Kong for academic, specialist, and lay audiences. In particular, he wrote a comprehensive assessment of the public international law implications of Chief Executive electoral changes (2014, 2015), warned that Beijing sought to transform Hong Kong into a dual state (ChinaFile 2017), and anticipated the political capture of the territory’s civil service (Lowy Interpreter 2019).
Experience
Queen’s University Faculty of Law
Autumn 2022 -
Assistant Professor
Spring 2020
Sessional Instructor
–
McGill University Faculty of Law
September 2020 – June 2022 (on leave April 2021 – January 2022)
SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow
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US-Asia Law Institute, New York University School of Law
September 2016 - Present
Non-Resident Affiliated Scholar
December 2015 - July 2016
Affiliated Researcher
September 2014 - June 2015
Visiting Scholar
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Hong Kong Baptist University
Autumn 2015
Lecturer in Law & Public Affairs, Masters of Public Administration programme
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Sir Oswald Cheung’s Chambers, Hong Kong
January 2010 - July 2013
Member of barristers’ chambers primarily focused on civil litigation. One of the oldest barristers’ chambers in Hong Kong.
Education
New York University School of Law
September 2016 - July 2020
Doctor of Juridical Science
September 2013 - May 2014
Master of Laws in International Legal Studies
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University of Cambridge
February 2011
Master of Arts in Law (conferral as of right)
October 2004 - June 2007
Bachelor of Arts in Law (Class II, Division 1 Honours)
Prince Philip Scholar, 2004
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University of Hong Kong
September 2007 - June 2008
Professional Certificate in Laws
Bar Admissions
Hong Kong (admitted April 2009; non-practicing as of July 2013)
New York (admitted June 2015)
Selected Publications
Book Chapters
Remedies, Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (2d ed. 2011) (with Lester H.L. Lee).
Articles
Unpalatable Realities, No Choices, (2021) 19 Int’l. J. Const. L. 1154 (review essay).
Legal Gaslighting, (2022) 72 Univ. of Toronto L. J. 50.
Intra-Executive Policy Laundering: A New Look at an Old Problem, 41 N.C. J. Int'l L. 249 (2016).
Commentary
Hong Kong’s Judicial System Has Been Debased, Toronto Star (Dec. 2, 2022).
Beyond Comparative Constitutionalism: Abusive Legal Borrowing, Balkinization (Sept. 23, 2021).
Hong Kong: The End of Delusion, Critical Asian Studies: Commentary (Feb. 8, 2021).
What’s Happening in Hong Kong: Not Weeping Until Seeing the Coffin, Lawfare (Nov. 27, 2019).
The Hong Kong Judiciary and Beijing’s Temper Tantrum, Verfassungsblog (Nov. 22, 2019).
The Deeper Malaise in Hong Kong’s Civil Service, Lowy Interpreter (June 17, 2019).
Why Hong Kong Protesters are Outraged by Extradition Bill, CNN Opinion (June 11, 2019).
The Express Rail Co-location Case: The Hong Kong Judiciary’s Retreat, Lawfare (Jan. 10, 2019).
Xinjiang and Hong Kong: The Periphery Playbook, Asia Dialogue (Oct. 26, 2018).
Hong Kong: Race-Baiting the Judiciary, Lowy Interpreter (Feb. 9, 2018).
Who’s to Blame for Hong Kong’s Weakening Rule of Law? ChinaFile (Jan. 23, 2018).
Beijing is Weakening Hong Kong’s Rule of Law. How Far Will it Go? ChinaFile (May 9, 2017).
A Mockery of China’s Pledge on Rule of Law, S. China Morning Post (H.K.) (Sept. 26, 2015) (with Jerome A. Cohen).
The Metastasis of “National Security” in China, Int’l J. Const. L. Blog (Aug. 6, 2015).
Lone Fight, S. China Morning Post (H.K.) (Mar. 13, 2015).
The International Law Case for Democracy in Hong Kong, Opinio Juris (Oct. 3, 2014).
Professional Service
Co-Drafter, Assessing Recent Developments Affecting Judicial Independence in Hong Kong (2022)
Country Expert on Hong Kong, Varieties of Democracy Project 2021-2022.
Peer reviewer, Hong Kong Law Journal (2016).
Peer reviewer, Hague Journal on the Rule of Law (2016).
Media Appearances
Pod Bless Canada, Where Hong Kong Stands Now (Apr. 14, 2021).
Lawfare Podcast, An Update from Hong Kong (Feb. 10, 2021).
Emily Feng, 4 Takeaways From Beijing’s Hong Kong Power Grab, NPR (May 29, 2020).
Little Red Podcast, Hong Kong No More (June 26, 2020).
Interview on BBC World Business Report (May 28, 2020).
Interview on Euronews (May 28, 2020).
Lawfare Podcast, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and China (July).
Sue-Lin Wong and Nicolle Liu, What is China’s Proposed National Security Law for Hong Kong?, Financial Times (May 26, 2020).
Interview on Euronews (May 21, 2020).
Suzanne Sataline, The Other China Emergency, Atlantic (Mar. 25, 2020).
Interview on Euronews, Nov. 8, 2019.
Lawfare Podcast, WTF, Hong Kong? (July 2, 2019).
Clifford Coonan, Beijing Wants Tighter Grip on Hong Kong Activists, Irish Times (Aug. 16, 2018).
Kelvin Chan, Beijing to Intervene in Hong Kong Lawmaker Oath Dispute, Assoc. Press (Nov. 4, 2016).
Interview on BBC News (Sept. 28, 2014).