People

Law school chief on equality and justice

by Yaki Wo

In as short as 20 minutes, Mike McConville, director of the new School of Law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong , stressed six times his fundamental principles for life – equality, respect for the individuals and dignity to every human being.

But he was involved in a racial discrimination allegation in 2001, when he was the head of the City University of Hong Kong's law school.

The case triggered a lot of criticisms of him, although he was cleared of anywrongdoing.

Professor McConville told Varsity that he still stood for his principles and none of the allegations had any factual bases – none had been or would be established.

He said nothing could undermine his knowledge and experience, or lessen his full devotion and enthusiasm to education and students. “I will keep my principles to run a law school, which, I think, are important.”

He said it was his insistence to those principles that brought him fame and recognition in the field of law.

“Most of my works are about contributing to social fairness, equality of opportunities for individuals, and making sure that people have a square deal in life, so law is a very good way to put them into practice,” Professor McConville said, while explaining why he studied law.

The professor, born into a poor Irish family in Wales , is the only one in the family having received higher education. “I am the lucky one,” he said.

Both his parents were deprived of school when they were young. That made him realise what he should strive for in life.

He is convinced that education should be made available to every individual, and everyone should be helped to develop their abilities.

Law is one way to achieve his aims.

He said he strongly believed that law, besides being a regulatory framework and the backbone of a society, could protect people's rights, guarantee freedom and settle disputes in an orderly manner.

Granted by London University with an LLB, which is generally known as bachelor of laws, and a PhD from the University of Nottingham , Professor McConville carved out his way.

He has done more than 15 research projects, many of which are about equality and human rights, such as the Defence of the Poor, Black Defendants and Criminal Justice and Human Rights in Turkey . The most current one is an empirical study of Chinese criminal procedure.

He was awarded the Cobden Trust Human Rights Award in 1978 for the book Negotiated Justice , which exposed some fundamental shortcomings of the criminal justice system in England and Wales , and how miscarriages of justice could occur.

He considers the award as a recognition of his effort to fight for his principles. The book was appraised for having advanced human rights by drawing public attention to the weakest and the most vulnerable.

Yet, a variety of inequalities is widely seen in societies governed by law, in terms of social, economic or cultural status, very different from Professor McConville's belief in law as a fair and just system.

But he explained that law by itself could not equalise people's opportunities by changing innate inequalities that already existed. “But if you believe in the mechanism of law for helping people, which I do, through legal aid and legal systems, it is possible to go some way to redress the situation,” he asserted.

Different people and cultures have different interpretations of law, especially in details. What he insists on are the fundamental principles embodied in law and that are universally adapted – equality, respect for individuals and dignity to every human being.

Those principles traveled with him all the way, even when he undertook advisory work in countries undergoing major social transitions, such as Latvia , Malawi , Turkey and Peru .

In Malawi , he worked with local lawyers and eight colleagues under a scheme funded by the European Union.

He described the legal system there at the time as essentially broken down after many years of despotic rule by former leader Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

Their task was to provide a blueprint for re-starting the system, empowering groups in society and thereby creating a measure of justice through law.

Professor McConville focused on criminal justice. He went to police stations and prisons to find out what was happening in practice.

He and his colleagues then mapped out a range of projects, sponsored by many donor organisations, to get the system started again to bring a greater sense of justice to the Malawians.

Professor McConville said it was through discussions that he and his partners could succeed. “Jaw-jaw is always better than war-war,” he said with a grin.

Witnessing the rebirth of those societies and being a part of it was uplifting and inspiring, the professor said, as it provided him with great satisfaction.

Everyone has the equal opportunity to develop, and Professor McConville has helped people of those countries to do so.

However, he considers those efforts as results of partnership, rather than solely his achievements. “I always have the luck to work with wonderful partners,” he said.

Professor McConville has taught in universities in the United States , the United Kingdom and China .

He said many scholars considered students from certain countries were more critical and responsive than the others.

And there goes a joke: when a teacher says “good morning”, British students will reply “good morning, sir”, while American students look out of the window to check out the weather.

However, in Professor McConville's eyes, all students are the same, with an enquiring, independent and critical mind.

“Every student likes to have fun in classes… and has the enthusiasm to learn…. All of them respond to the environment in which they're encouraged to express their views,” he said.

On the Chinese University 's 2005 Information Day, Professor McConville told prospective students that the School of Law would strive to provide an excellent and interactive learning environment in which students could actively participate.

He also stressed the mutual importance and responsibility of both teachers and students in the assessment of class quality.

“You cannot judge the class by simply judging the students,” he said.

“I want to be involved with the students, be in contact with the students… instead of being just an administrator.”

In his welcoming speech in the school's brochure, he stated:

“Together, staff and students will make a significant contribution not only to Hong Kong 's legal system, its institutions and its wider community, but also to the maintenance of the rule of law and the defence and protection of the rights of individuals.”

The scholar is confident that a good legal education will equip students with skills valuable to them for the rest of their lives.

“They will have the opportunity to put those fundamental principles into practice… into close involvement with the community,” he said.

Professor McConville does not agree that Hong Kong has too many law schools. What the city does need is a first-rate law school.

“The standard of excellence should not be local competition: our standard, at the Chinese University , is the best university law school in the world,” he said.

In the coming years, Professor McConville said he would most like to work in China .

He said he had life long friends in China and had the good fortune to find “wonderful colleagues” to work with, many of whom had been with him on a big research project for four years already.

What attracts him more is the rapid changes in China that, he said, “appeal to all those interested in major social, economic and political changes. It is the most exciting and challenging environment to live in”.

That is why he came to work at the Chinese University of Hong Kong . Through the new programme, students will help promote the principles of equal treatment, dignity and respect for other human beings, the professor said.

Wherever he works, whatever his work is, Professor McConville said, he will work with the same faith:

“Nothing I have done will ever compromise my principles.”