Hong Kong’s legal fraternity is mourning the loss of leading land law scholar Michael Wilkinson, who taught many of the city’s lawyers, including its first chief justice. He died on Wednesday evening at the age of 74.
The University of Hong Kong’s law faculty told students of his death in a circular late on Wednesday night. The school was in touch with the family regarding memorial service arrangements.
“I have probably taught 60 to 70 per cent of all lawyers in Hong Kong,” the veteran educator told legal publication Hong Kong Lawyer last year. “And the best part of my work is interacting with my students.”
After graduating from the University of Cambridge and becoming a barrister in Britain, Professor Wilkinson was offered a teaching position at the same institution, where he briefly taught Andrew Li Kwok-nang, who later become Hong Kong’s first chief justice.
In 1983, after spending 13 years teaching in Africa, Wilkinson joined HKU, where he taught law for more than three decades, making him the university’s longest-serving scholar.
He was a member of the Law Reform Commission from 2008 to 2014, and wrote much-cited practitioners’ guides to civil procedures and conveyancing. He served as HKU’s public orator from 2008 to last year, representing the university to deliver citations for recipients of honorary degrees.
Wilkinson was admitted to the Law Society of Hong Kong as an honorary member last year for his contributions to legal education and Hong Kong’s legal field. This made him the second non-solicitor, after Li, to receive the honour.
The late law professor was known for his passion for teaching. Even after a double cancer diagnosis in recent years, including lung cancer, he continued to hold classes.
“For the last three weeks or so, his health deteriorated and he had to be hospitalised, but he even asked for permission from his doctor to temporarily leave the hospital and return to his teaching,” said HKU colleague Eric Cheung Tat-ming, who once studied under Wilkinson.
“He loved to teach. In fact he even said he never wished to retire,” HKU law dean Michael Hor Yew Meng said.
At one point last year, after Wilkinson underwent chemotherapy, students were asked to wear surgical masks in class to avoid infecting him. He delivered his last lecture on January 28.
HKU alumnus and senior counsel Alan Leong Kah-kit said the professor was very popular and had tried to make law easy for both students and practitioners to understand.
Land law expert Edward Chan King-sang expressed sadness at Wilkinson’s passing and praised him for his knowledge of the field.
“He always presented his views in a simple and direct manner,” Chan said in a written response to the Post, adding he had every reason to believe students had found it easy to follow the scholar’s lectures.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Law scholar remembered for dedication, love of teaching
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