Hats off to all student teams for their innovative projects that enhance the impact of local NGOs and address access to justice needs in Hong Kong society!
The winners of the third PILnet Law for Change Student Competition were revealed on January 16, 2020. This competition was created with the support from the WYNG Foundation, to expand students’ imaginations about law and the role it plays in Hong Kong society. Participants had the opportunity to apply their knowledge of law to important local issues, and to come up with creative approaches to address problems and access to justice needs.
PILnet hosted the 2019 Law for Change Student Competition Project Showcase and Awards Ceremony on January 16. This event was the culmination of the competition, which began in October 2019, and included PILnet organized trainings that focused on project design, planning, budgeting, and monitoring and evaluation.
The seven competition finalists worked under the guidance of their legal mentors to create full proposals around the chosen theme of this year’s competition, “Community” with a focus on “Sustainability”. The finalists presented their proposals at a Pitching Event on January 11, which were evaluated by a panel of judges, including Davis Bookhart, Azan Marwah, Moses Mui and Ada Yip.
The winner will be awarded a seed grant of HK$50,000, and the two runners-up will receive a seed grant of HK$25,000 respectively to implement their projects.
Winner & Runners-up |
Winner:
Team 7 – Access to Justice Fellowship
Access to Justice Fellowship aims to tackle the social, economic, and institutional barriers to access to justice by promoting and establishing sustainable partnerships in public interest law. The project proposes a 10-month fellowship placing two law graduates in two partnering NGOs to build their internal legal capacity.
Team members: Chan Acacia, Chan Gee Ting Celine, Wong Ho Long Jaime, Wong Yik Yu Michelle from the University of Hong Kong; and Ho George from the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Runner-up:Team 4 Be EnGayged |
Be EnGayged addresses three major problems in relation to LGBT communities: lack of knowledge of LGBT rights, discrimination, and gaps in Hong Kong legislation. The project contains three phases, starting with an online community, followed by an employer survey and lastly pride parade booth and petition, to advocate LGBT rights in the workplace.Team members: Chan Wing Hei, Cheng Lok Yu, Li Ka Hang, Yeung Cheuk Wa, Yu Sheung Him Ambrose from The University of Hong Kong |
Runner-up:Team 5 ASsist – Empowerment through Exchange |
ASsist- Empowerment through Exchange aims at resolving the onerousness of the Unified Screening Mechanism (USM) by providing information sessions for new asylum seekers and compiling a database for duty lawyers. It strives to streamline the USM process for the stakeholders and to enhance public awareness about the plight of asylum seekers.Team members: Bin Azhar Abdullah, Chan Jing Lin Stephanie, Leung Hoi Yan Holly, Mak Lai Hang from the University of Hong Kong |
2019 Student Projects |
This year, seven teams competed and designed public interest law initiatives related to sustainability. Their projects touched on social issues concerning Hong Kong’s community including food waste, LGBT rights, refugee rights, renewable energy, and community legal education.
The finalists’ dynamic and diverse proposals were extraordinary examples of how law can be used as a tool for social change with the primary aim to address access to justice needs in Hong Kong.
| Team | Project Title | Project Description |
| 1 | Renew the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) | This project aims at promoting public awareness of legal issues arising from renewable energy development in Hong Kong through provision of accessible legal information and assistance, and increase the overall transparency of installation and operation under the FiT. The project plans to set up a website, organize workshops, and pilot a consultation scheme. Participants of the projects are expected to be motivated to install photovoltaic panel by a simplified process.Team members: Leung Yee Lam from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Yeung Jun Tao from the University of Hong Kong |
| 2 | Eco-Responsibility- Save the Food, Banish Hunger | This project aims at promoting awareness in Hong Kong of reducing food waste and to facilitate food redistribution in an innovative way. The initiative plans to launch a pilot project inside City University campus, targeting staff and students residing within the campus.Team members: Adekola Tolulope Anthony, Dai Feiyang, Cheung Ka Chun, and Ho Kin Li from City University of Hong Kong |
| 3 | Regendering Gender and Sexuality | Regendering Gender and Sexuality aims at transforming traditional mentality towards gender and sexulaity in Hong Kong. The project intends to provide a more holistic education related to sexuality by developing an App, providing workshops at primary and secondary schools, and publishing booklets to engage with stakeholders.Team members: Corpus Angeline Nicole Martin from City University of Hong Kong, and Kangara Kuterera Myrmidon Zvikomborero from the Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| 6 | Stakeholder | Stakeholder hopes to enable secondary students to make convincing arguments in social debates with other members of the community and safeguard the rule of law. They intends to achieve this through lectures on constitutional norms, principles of constitutional interpretation and tests for constitutional validity for students, and a debate competition.Team members: Iu Kwan Yuen, Tseung Tzu Min, and Su Lifu from the Chinese University of Hong Kong |
Click here to read or download the student proposals.
Once again, PILnet would like to thank all our supporters and partners who have dedicated their time, resources, and expertise in contributing to the success of PILnet’s Law for Change Student Competition.
|
The Law for Change Student Competition creates a platform where law students, lawyers, NGO practitioners, and members of the community collaborate and mobilize to address social justice issues in Hong Kong.
Interested in getting involved in the students’ projects?
Contact us at: [email protected].
|
