A Legal Journey 2019 (English Version)：An Unsilenced Voice

50 years ago, 40 students and 3 academic staff gathered and talked about the rule of law inside a historical building located on Caine Road.





John REAR, an academic staff who taught public law, had no experience in teaching and was illiterate in Chinese. Nevertheless, he deliberately learnt how to write “rule of law” in Chinese and wrote it on the blackboard, hoping that his students would bear it in mind. In fact, before starting his lecture, John REAR had already engaged in a polemic with the British Hong Kong Government as a legislative amendment had led to a case of making judgment before trial. He had even been targeted at because of this incident, and he nearly failed in organising his law programme. Fortunately, all problems were solved in the end. John REAR’s law programme was launched successfully, while the seed was sown for the future Faculty of Law of The University of Hong Kong.







Half a century has passed, and the small seed has grown into a big tree. People and things have been constantly changing throughout the journey. However, the only thing that remains unchanged is that John REAR, a founder member of the Faculty of Law, has all along treasured the rule of law for 50 years, and he hopes that his students will treasure it like he does.