UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

DEPARTMENT OF LAW

LAND LAW I & II (LLAW 2013 & 2014)

2022-23

Course Outline

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LEARNING OUTCOMES

Let’s adopt the HKU Educational Aims1 as possible goals and add other attributes that are
essential to knowledge-building and personal growth:

Possible goals / learning outcomes 

1 Explain the legal and equitable doctrines applicable to the ownership and
acquisition of interests in land and their rationale

2 Identify problems concerning the acquisition of, and conflicting claims over,
interests in land and apply the relevant land law doctrines, cases and
statutory provisions to solve those problems
3 Critically evaluate and synthesize the various land law doctrines and
comment on their interrelationship

4 Make suggestions on the development of land law, both local and global,
with reference to landmark cases

5 Sharpen your communication, presentation, legal research, and problem-

solving skills, all of which will be helpful in your lifelong learning

6 Find your passion and purpose, and decide for yourself what role you want
to play in learning and in life

LEARNING OUTCOMES LEARNING ACTIVITES

(1) Essential knowledge )
(2) Professional skills ) Lecture Discussion
(3) Critical evaluation ) +
(4) Legal development ) Tutorial Discussion
(5) Lifelong learning skills ) +
(6) Self-exploration ) Group Presentation

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HKU aims at enabling students to develop capabilities in:
1. Pursuit of academic / professional excellence, critical intellectual enquiry and lifelong learning
2. Tackling novel situations and ill-defined problems
3. Critical self-reflection, greater understanding of others, and upholding personal and professional ethics
4. Intercultural understanding and global citizenship
5. Communication and collaboration
6. Leadership and advocacy for the improvement of the human condition

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LEARNING ACTIVITIES to achieve LEARNING OUTCOMES

LECTURE DISCUSSION

We meet every Monday for interactive discussion. Lecture outlines are designed to guide
you through the reading and help you make your own notes.
Pre-class preparation: go through the relevant part of the outline before each lecture (if
you have time, read the relevant cases and the textbook as well).
In-class discussion: we will apply what you’ve learnt from the outline to factual scenarios;
the lecture outline is for you to type your notes during lecture discussion; and the Optional
Exploration multimedia resources are used to enrich our discussion.
Post-class consolidation: read the relevant cases and the textbook (if you haven’t done so
before class) and revise your notes to consolidate what you’ve learnt.

GROUP PRESENTATION

We use group presentation as one of the learning activities. It is commonly held that two
heads are better than one. Everyone has different experiences, ideas and views. Group
presentation allows each student to share and discuss ideas with group members, work
on only one aspect of the project, and choose the task they feel comfortable with.

To address some common problems with flipped learning (e.g., free-riders / insufficient
monitoring/guidance/quality assurance), you will choose your group members and topic.

The group presentation is compulsory in Land Law I, which means students must
participate in this activity. In Lecture 1, we will explain the specific requirements and
rules for the group presentation.

TUTORIAL DISCUSSION

There is a weekly tutorial for you to discuss and apply key legal principles/cases/statutes.
You will learn the essential skills for solving exam and real-life problems:

- Client’s problem: issues from the client’s perspective e.g. client wants to stay in the flat
- Application: apply the law to facts e.g. client has executed a deed under s4(1) CPO
- Solution: solve the client’s problem e.g. client can stay in the flat as a legal owner
- Expression: clear, concise, coherent, and logical

“CASE” is our preferred approach. It helps us tackle real-life problems in a pragmatic and
professional manner. In tutorials, you will be asked to advise a client on a given factual
scenario which is based on a real case. Practise the “CASE” approach so that you can use
the same approach in answering exam questions, which are also inspired by real cases.

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ASSESSMENT or ACHIEVEMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES

There are two examinations, in December and in May. The December Exam is on Land
Law I topics covered in semester 1. The May Exam is mainly on Land Law II topics
covered in semester 2, but Land Law I topics remain relevant as background. PRIORITY
is a topic examinable in both exams.

In either exam, you have to answer ONE COMPULSORY question, which is further
divided into sub-questions, in TWO HOURS (including 10 minutes of reading time). It is
an OPEN BOOK exam so that you can focus on the analysis and application of the
principles and authorities you have learnt without memorizing them. For the avoidance
of doubt, it will be the same exam for all students.

FEEDBACK and FEEDFORWARD as part of the LEARNING PROCESS

Assessment without feedback does very little to support student learning.2 In addition to
feedback on past performance, we have a Feedback Tutorial for you to receive feedback
for future improvement. This is better known as “feedforward”, as we are forward-
looking and giving constructive and concrete suggestions to help you improve in the
exam (see Tutorial worksheet). Of course, we also make sure that the assessment criteria
are understood, and the grading is fair:

BEFORE THE EXAM

Students’ preparation
1. To help you prepare for the exam, there is REVISION at the end of Land Law I
2. To help you understand the grading, there is in-class elaboration on the assessment
criteria and standards

BEFORE THE GRADING

Examiners’ preparation
1. To facilitate grading, all examiners will receive a detailed marking guide
2. To ensure fairness and consistency in grading, all examiners will meet and compare
their grading of sample scripts in order to set common standards

AFTER THE GRADING

Moderation and Feedback
1. To ensure fairness and consistency in grading, there will be moderation, i.e. the grades
will be checked and adjusted if necessary
2. To help you learn from the assessment and improve, there will be different forms of
feedback

ACHIEVEMENT CRITERIA

Excellent Good Satisfactory Pass

2
http://www.cetl.hku.hk/teaching-learning-cop/community-wise-alice-lee/

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Client’s problems

Application (applying the law to facts)

Solution (solving the client’s problems)

Expression (clear, concise, coherent, and logical)

“CASE” is our preferred approach in tutorials and exam. It summarizes our achievement criteria.

GRADE DESCRIPTORS

First Class GPA = 3.6 – 4.30

A+ Outstanding (90-100) GPA=4.3

A Excellent (85-89) GPA=4.0

EITHER demonstrates qualities of originality in approach and argument, effective analytical and
critical abilities, and a thorough understanding of the relevant law and legal issues;
OR demonstrates a very thorough understanding of the law, fluently expressed, founded on
careful and critical reading of relevant materials, and independent judgment.
AND demonstrates highly effective organizational, rhetorical and presentational skills.
Work reaching this standard should be awarded an A+.
Where work satisfies most of these standards, but falls slightly short in one or two respects, then
an A should be awarded.

A– Borderline Excellent (80-84) GPA=3.7

Demonstrates some of the qualities required for an excellent grade,

but overall falls short of Excellence (e.g. is less comprehensive,
or perhaps incompletely states the law on a minor issue,
or misapplies it in relation to the facts re a minor issue,
or perhaps incompletely deals with or even omits a minor issue etc),
or otherwise contains some minor errors.
AND demonstrates effective organizational, rhetorical and presentational skills.

Upper Second GPA = 3.0 – 3.59

B+ Very Good (76-79) GPA=3.3

Demonstrates very good skill and ability in identifying, analyzing, dealing with the main issues,
displays an ability to present persuasive arguments backed up by authority where necessary,
but falls short of Excellence (e.g. is less analytical, critical, or thorough, incompletely states the law,
misapplies the law and/or incompletely deals with or omits some issues etc)
or contains some errors.
AND demonstrates sound organizational, rhetorical and presentational skills.

B Good (73-75) GPA=3.0

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Demonstrates good skill and ability in identifying, analyzing, dealing with the main issues,
ability to present coherent, structured arguments backed up by authority where necessary,
but falls short of Very Good in some material aspects
(e.g. arguments less fully developed and persuasive,
coverage of issues less comprehensive or complete,
structure of answers less logical or coherent,
omission to cite some minor authorities where necessary, or
application of law to facts less developed).
AND demonstrates good organizational, rhetorical and presentational skills.

Lower Second GPA = 2.4 – 2.99

B– Borderline Good (70-72) GPA=2.7

Broadly identifies the major issues and displays a broad understanding of the relevant law,
but contains errors or
is vague or confused on an issue or
in applying the law to the facts, or
omits some major issues etc.
AND demonstrates fair organizational, rhetorical and presentational skills but structure of
answers less organized.

Third Class GPA = 1.7 – 2.39

C+ Very Satisfactory (66-69) GPA=2.3

C Satisfactory (63-65) GPA=2.0
C– Borderline Satisfactory (60-62) GPA=1.7

Identifies and broadly deals with some of the major issues,

but displays a more limited understanding of the relevant law or
contains major errors or is generally confused in stating or applying the law to the facts.
AND demonstrates adequate organizational, rhetorical and presentational skills. Where work
generally satisfies these standards, it should be awarded a C+. Where work broadly reaches this
standard but falls short in one or more respects, it should be awarded a C or C–.

We understand the grading implications on GPA and Class of Honours, which will be
emphasized in the marking guide and at the examiners’ meetings mentioned above.

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TEACHING TEAM (EXAMINERS)

Jacky Chan (heiching@gmail.com) graduated from HKU CivE & LLB and PCLL, and KCL
PGDip in EU Competition Law. He began his practice at the Bar in 2010, focusing on land,
trust, matrimonial and general civil and commercial litigation. He has been teaching on
the HKU Land Law course since he joined the Bar.

Tommy Cheung (tommycheungtw@gmail.com) is a practising barrister at Des Voeux

Chambers focusing on civil and commercial law, with particular interest and experience
in land law as well as probate and trusts law. Prior to joining the Bar, he obtained the BCL
degree with Distinction from the University of Oxford, and BBA(Law) and LLB degrees
with First Class Honours from HKU.

Francis Chung (francis.chung@siroswald.com) obtained his LLB and LLM degrees at the
HKU and the University of Cambridge respectively. He is now a practising barrister at Sir
Oswald Cheung’s Chambers. He has developed a wide range of civil practice, with
particular interest and experience in Chancery law including land law. Before joining the
land law team, he has co-lectured to LLB students on the law of easements in 2018.

Joshua S. Kanjanapas (jkanjanapas@gmail.com) is a practising barrister with a focus on

construction, real property and land related disputes, in addition to company law, trusts
and general civil and commercial law. He also lectures on construction law in a
programme hosted by Birmingham City University. He obtained the BBA(Law) and LLB
degrees and completed PCLL in HKU.

Kurt Ng (kurtncy@gmail.com) graduated from HKU LLB and completed PCLL in HKU.
He commenced his practice as a barrister in 2018, with primary focus on land, trust,
commercial and insolvency litigation. In addition, he also works in land and probate cases
involving Tsing Law.

Jonathan Chu (jonchucj@connect.hku.hk) recently completed his LLM studies at the

University of Cambridge, and is now serving as a Judicial Assistant at the Hong Kong
Court of Final Appeal. An HKU alumnus, he graduated with the degrees of BBA(Law)
and LLB in 2018, and obtained his PCLL in 2019. He then trained at Baker McKenzie Hong
Kong before embarking on his LLM studies. Outside of the law, Jonathan is a history lover,
who enjoys collecting antiques and exploring the older parts of the city. Thus sprang his
especial interest in land law—a legal area so intimately connected with the history of a
place.

Hui Jing (hjing@hku.hk) is an Assistant professor at HKU Law Faculty:

https://www.law.hku.hk/academic_staff/dr-hui-jing/

TEXTBOOK

SH Goo and Alice Lee, Land Law in Hong Kong (LexisNexis, 5th edition, 2022)

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The corresponding chapters in the textbook are indicated below. The textbook is written
for a wider audience (students, teachers, practitioners, judges, and others interested in the
subject) and each chapter is self-contained. It does not necessarily follow the flow of
lecture topics, which are chosen and arranged for students taking this Land Law course.

The lecture outlines for semester 1 are co-designed by students and teacher to facilitate
your reading, learning and preparation for lectures. The outlines can only be used as
study references; the learning focus should be on the relevant cases, statutes, and the
textbook.

TOPICS

Topics for semester 1 (Hui Jing) Textbook

(1) Fundamentals
A. Terminology Ch 1

B. Formalities for Acquisition of Interests Deed Ch 2

Enforceable Contract
C. Co-ownership Ch 5
Methods to get
ownership and
(2) Equitable Doctrines Resulting Trust Ch 4 other interests
Constructive Trust
(3) Proprietary Estoppel (Equitable Doctrine) Proprietary Estoppel Ch 3

(4) Adverse Possession (Legal Doctrine) Adverse Possession Ch 6

Disputes over
(5) Priority Ch 7 ownership and
other interests

Topics for semester 2 (Say Goo)

(6) Leases Right to occupy (exclusive possession) Ch 9

(7) Leasehold covenants Ch 8, 10
(8) Licences Right to occupy (non-exclusive possession) Ch 11 Interests
(9) Easements Right to use other’s property (e.g. right of way) Ch 12
(10) Mortgages Right to use my property as security Ch 13

Topics (1) to (5) in semester 1 lay the foundation for the course and remain relevant as
background knowledge in semester 2. The interrelationship between the two semesters,
and everything you need to know about the Land Law course, and essential information
about learning and assessment will be explained in Lecture 1.

We aim to cover the following in Lecture 1:

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- Course outline (this document)
- Group Presentation Rules
- Topic 1 outline: A. Terminology