This new book in the Constitutionalism in Asia series considers the idea of origins, and of change and continuity in terms of 'constitution-making', which is an on-going process in the Northeast Asian states. The book examines the drafting, nature, core values, and roles of the first modern constitutions during the founding of the 8 modern states/territories in Northeast Asia: China (1949), Taiwan (1947), Hong Kong SAR (1997), Macau SAR (1999), Japan (1889), North Korea (1948 and 1972), South Korea (1948), and Mongolia (1924). The collection provides: - an exploratory description of the process and substantive inputs in the making of the first constitutions of these nations/territories; - analysis of the internal and external (including intra-regional) forces surrounding the making of these constitutions; and - theoretical construction of models to conceptualise the nature and role of the first constitutions (including constituent documents) in the founding of the modern nation-states/territories and their subsequent impact on state-building in the region.

The VIIth International Conference on Aspartic Proteinases was held in Banff, Alberta, Canada, from October 22 to 27, 1996. The venue was the Banff Centre in the Canadian Rockies, a setting well known worldwide for the scenic beauty and mountain grandeur. It was perhaps presumptuous of the organizers to call this the seventh Aspartic Proteinase Conference but it was felt that the meeting in 1982, organized by Tom Blundell and John Kay, was of an international stature and covered topics sufficiently broad to constitute a conference. Thus, there is a discontinuity in that the Gifu Conference organized by Prof. Kenji Takahashi was the fifth International Conference on Aspartic Proteinases. Officially, there has not been a sixth Conference and if there is confusion, it is the result of my desire to recognize the importance of the London meeting. Banffhosted 106 scientists from 14 different countries. There were 26 invited speak ers among the 44 oral presentations of the 7 main sessions. In addition, there were 53 con tributed poster presentations that spanned the whole range of interest in aspartic proteinases.

Drawing on archival materials, Michael Ng challenges the widely accepted narrative that freedom of expression in Hong Kong is a legacy of British rule of law. Demonstrating that the media and schools were pervasively censored for much of the colonial period and only liberated at a very late stage of British rule, this book complicates our understanding of how Hong Kong came to be a city that championed free speech by the late 1990s. With extensive use of primary sources, the free press, freedom of speech and judicial independence are all revealed to be products of Britain's China strategy. Ng shows that, from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, Hong Kong's legal history was deeply affected by China's relations with world powers. Demonstrating that Hong Kong's freedoms drifted along waves of change in global politics, this book offers a new perspective on the British legal regime in Hong Kong.

"Practicing law" has a dual meaning in this book. It refers to both the occupational practice of law and the practicing of transplanted laws and institutions to perfect them. The book constitutes the first monographic work on the legal history of Republican Beijing, and provides an in-depth and comprehensive account of the practice of law in the city of Beijing during a period of social transformation. Drawing upon unprecedented research using archived records and other primary materials, it explores the problems encountered by Republican Beijing's legal practitioners, including lawyers, policemen, judges and criminologists, in applying transplanted laws and legal institutions when they were inapplicable to, incompatible with, or inadequate for resolving everyday legal issues. These legal practitioners resolved the mismatch, the author argues, by quite sensibly assimilating certain imperial laws and customs and traditional legal practices into the daily routines of the recently imported legal institutions. Such efforts by indigenous legal practitioners were crucial in, and an integral part of, the making of legal transplantation in Republican Beijing. This work not only makes significant contributions to scholarship on the legal history of modern China, but also offers insights into China's quest for modernization in its first wave of legal globalization. It is thus of great value to legal historians, comparative legal scholars, specialists in Chinese law and China studies, and lawyers and law students with an interest in Chinese legal history.

"Practicing law" has a dual meaning in this book. It refers to both the occupational practice of law and the practicing of transplanted laws and institutions to perfect them. The book constitutes the first monographic work on the legal history of Republican Beijing, and provides an in-depth and comprehensive account of the practice of law in the city of Beijing during a period of social transformation. Drawing upon unprecedented research using archived records and other primary materials, it explores the problems encountered by Republican Beijing's legal practitioners, including lawyers, policemen, judges and criminologists, in applying transplanted laws and legal institutions when they were inapplicable to, incompatible with, or inadequate for resolving everyday legal issues. These legal practitioners resolved the mismatch, the author argues, by quite sensibly assimilating certain imperial laws and customs and traditional legal practices into the daily routines of the recently imported legal institutions. Such efforts by indigenous legal practitioners were crucial in, and an integral part of, the making of legal transplantation in Republican Beijing. This work not only makes significant contributions to scholarship on the legal history of modern China, but also offers insights into China's quest for modernization in its first wave of legal globalization. It is thus of great value to legal historians, comparative legal scholars, specialists in Chinese law and China studies, and lawyers and law students with an interest in Chinese legal history.

The VIIth International Conference on Aspartic Proteinases was held in Banff, Alberta, Canada, from October 22 to 27, 1996. The venue was the Banff Centre in the Canadian Rockies, a setting well known worldwide for the scenic beauty and mountain grandeur. It was perhaps presumptuous of the organizers to call this the seventh Aspartic Proteinase Conference but it was felt that the meeting in 1982, organized by Tom Blundell and John Kay, was of an international stature and covered topics sufficiently broad to constitute a conference. Thus, there is a discontinuity in that the Gifu Conference organized by Prof. Kenji Takahashi was the fifth International Conference on Aspartic Proteinases. Officially, there has not been a sixth Conference and if there is confusion, it is the result of my desire to recognize the importance of the London meeting. Banffhosted 106 scientists from 14 different countries. There were 26 invited speak ers among the 44 oral presentations of the 7 main sessions. In addition, there were 53 con tributed poster presentations that spanned the whole range of interest in aspartic proteinases.

This new book in the Constitutionalism in Asia series considers the idea of origins, and of change and continuity in terms of 'constitution-making', which is an on-going process in the Northeast Asian states. The book examines the drafting, nature, core values, and roles of the first modern constitutions during the founding of the 8 modern states/territories in Northeast Asia: China (1949), Taiwan (1947), Hong Kong SAR (1997), Macau SAR (1999), Japan (1889), North Korea (1948 and 1972), South Korea (1948), and Mongolia (1924). The collection provides: - an exploratory description of the process and substantive inputs in the making of the first constitutions of these nations/territories; - analysis of the internal and external (including intra-regional) forces surrounding the making of these constitutions; and - theoretical construction of models to conceptualise the nature and role of the first constitutions (including constituent documents) in the founding of the modern nation-states/territories and their subsequent impact on state-building in the region.

This volume critically evaluates the latest legal reform of China, covering major areas such as trade and securities law, online privacy law, criminal law, human rights and international law. It represents a bold departure from the most recent works on Chinese legal reform by engaging the ideas of experts in contemporary Chinese law with the archival scholarship of Chinese legal historians. This unique interdisciplinary feature affords readers a more nuanced view of the complexities and specificities of how China has problematised legal reforms in various historical contexts when building a progressive yet sustainable legal system. This volume appraises the most current reform in Chinese law by considering China's engagement with globalisation, increasingly complicated domestic situation and historical legal transplantation experiences. It will be of huge interest to students, researchers and practitioners interested in Chinese law and policy, China and Asian studies and Chinese legal history.

This volume critically evaluates the latest legal reform of China, covering major areas such as trade and securities law, online privacy law, criminal law, human rights and international law. It represents a bold departure from the most recent works on Chinese legal reform by engaging the ideas of experts in contemporary Chinese law with the archival scholarship of Chinese legal historians. This unique interdisciplinary feature affords readers a more nuanced view of the complexities and specificities of how China has problematised legal reforms in various historical contexts when building a progressive yet sustainable legal system. This volume appraises the most current reform in Chinese law by considering China's engagement with globalisation, increasingly complicated domestic situation and historical legal transplantation experiences. It will be of huge interest to students, researchers and practitioners interested in Chinese law and policy, China and Asian studies and Chinese legal history.