Research Fellow (GCAL) | PhD (SOAS) | MSc (LSE) | Chevening Scholar
Scholar in Law, Politics and Human Rights in Hong Kong & China
ABOUT
Dr. Yan-ho Lai, aka Eric Lai, is a research fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law (GCAL), and the author of forthcoming book, Legal Resistance under Authoritarianism: The Struggle for the Rule of Law in Hong Kong. He received his Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science as a Chevening Scholar in 2013 and his Ph.D in law at SOAS University of London in 2022 respectively. His main research focuses on law and politics, law and society, law and social movement, national security, judicial politics and international human rights laws and practices in hybrid and authoritarian regimes. Lai is formerly a visiting fellow at the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the University of Hong Kong, formerly visiting researcher at King's College London Dickson Poon School of Law, formerly visiting scholar at the University of St. Thomas in Texas, and formerly received the Hong Kong Law fellowship at GCAL. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Lai has been involved in civil society development and human rights education since 2010. He writes on law and politics, electoral integrity, judicial activism, international human rights, and religious freedom in academic journals, newspapers, and popular literature. He is currently an associate fellow at the Hong Kong Studies Hub of the University of Surrey and a member of the Asian Civil Society Research Network based in the University of Melbourne. He also holds a postgraduate diploma in law in the UK.
The Judiciary | Democratic Development in Hong Kong
Lai, YH (2024). The Judiciary. Pp. 76-110 in Lam, WM, PL Lui and W Wong (eds). Contemporary Hong Kong Government and Politics. Hong Kong: HKU Press.
Lai, YH and M Sing (2024). Democratic Development in Hong Kong. Pp. 161-90 in Lam, WM, PL Lui and W Wong (eds). Contemporary Hong Kong Government and Politics. Hong Kong: HKU Press.
Judicial Independence and the Rule of Law in NSL-era Hong Kong
Lai, YH (2024). Judicial Indpendence and the Rule of Law in NSL-era Hong Kong. In Ortmann, S, RKS Lau and KKL Chan (eds). Hong Kong Politics after the National Security Law: Autocratization and Its Consequences. London: Routledge.
National Security Deference or National Security Domination? The “Glory to Hong Kong” Injunction Saga and Hong Kong’s Compromised Judiciary
Lai, EYH, L Tsui and TE Kellogg (2024). National Security Deference or National Security Domination? The “Glory to Hong Kong” Injunction Saga and Hong Kong’s Compromised Judiciary, Research Report, Washington DC: Center for Asian Law, Georgetown University Law Center.
LATEST EVENTS
Academic Publication
(2024), "Not Just About the Law: Reflections on A Report on the National Security Regime in Hong Kong (2024)" Taiwan Human Rights Journal, vol.7, no.4, pp.89-110.
(2024), "An Anatomy of Authoritarian Rule of Law in Hong Kong" China Journal of Democracy, vol.2, no.3, pp. 78-99 (in Chinese).
(2024) 〈香港司法政治化與法律人的回應〉in Ming-sho Ho (Ed),《未竟的革命：香港人的民主運動與日常抵抗》, Rive Gauche, Chapter 4. (co-authored with Ching-fang Hsu)
(2023), "Authoritarian Crackdown Without Bloodshed: China’s Securitization in Post-NSL Hong Kong" in Wei-chin Lee (ed) Protests, Pandemic, and Security Predicaments: Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and the US in the 2020s, Palgrave MacMillan, pp.75-117.
(2022）"Departure from International Human Rights Law and Comparative Best Practice: HKSAR v Tong Ying Kit" Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 52, Part 2, pp.466 - 486. (with Thomas E. Kellogg)
(2022) "A ‘Leader-full’ Movement Under Authoritarianism: Mobilization Networks in Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Movement” in Anthony J. Spires and Akihiro Ogawa (eds), Authoritarianism and Civil Society in Asia, Routlegde, chapter 1.
(2022) A “leaderless but leader-full” movement: Social mobilisation in the 2019 Hong Kong protests (2022) in Amy Barrow and Sara Fuller (eds), Activism and Authoritarian Governance in Asia, Routledge, Chapter 10.
(2022) Review: Dictatorship by Degrees: Xi Jinping in China by Steven P. Feldman. China Information, first published online, June17.
(2022) Review: Sunflowers and Umbrellas: Social Movements, Expressive Practices, and Political Culture in Taiwan and Hong Kong: By Thomas Gold and Sebastian Veg. The Journal of Development Studies, ahead-of-print, 29 May.
(2020). "Solidarity and Implications of a Leaderless Movement in Hong Kong: Its Strengths and Limitations" , Communist and Post Communist Studies, Vol. 53, No.4, pp.41-67 . (with Ming Sing)
(2020). “Discernment of Spirits and Pastoral Circle in Social Movement: A Theological Reflection on Hong Kong’s Anti-extradition Movement” Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies Vol.11, pp.138-191.
(2019). “Lady Justice or The Golden Calf? The ‘China Factor’ in Hong Kong’s Legal System” Social Transformation of Chinese Societies, 15:2, pp. 178-96.
Policy / Public-facing Publication
(2025) Workshop Report: Law, human rights and civil society in Hong Kong. SOAS China Institute & Georgetown Center for Asian Law, January 2025.
(2024) Research Report: National Security Deference or National Security Domination? The “Glory to Hong Kong” Injunction Saga and Hong Kong’s Compromised Judiciary. Center for Asian Law, Georgetown University Law Center, December 2024 (Co-authored with Lokman Tsui and Thomas E. Kellogg).
(2024) 〈香港新国家安全法の顛末〉《世界》，2024年7月号。日本：岩波書店。
(2024) "‘Glory to Hong Kong’ ban sets a chilling precedent" The Hongkonger, 5 June.
(2024) Research Report: Anatomy of a Crackdown: The Hong Kong National Security Law and Restrictions on Civil Society. Center for Asian Law, Georgetown University Law Center, March 2024 (Co-authored with Olivia Chow and Thomas E. Kellogg).
(2024) Workshop Report: Hong Kong’s National Security Law, Article 23 Legislation and Human Rights Defence. SOAS China Institute & Georgetown Center for Asian Law, February 2024.
(2024) "Implications of Article 23 Legislation on the Future of Hong Kong" China Brief, Jamestown Foundation, vol.25, issue 5.
(2024) "Submission on the Hong Kong Government Public Consultation Document, Safeguarding National Security: Basic Law Article 23 Legislation" Center for Asian Law, Georgetown University Law Center, 27 Feburary.
(2024) "Will Hong Kong's National Security Law Safeguard or Harm Its Citizens?" East Asian Forum, 6 January.
(2024). Resistance through the Cracks: Understanding Hong Kong’s Rule by Law and Resistance in the Courtroom in Comparative Perspective [在夾縫中抵抗：從依法治國與司法抗爭的比較經驗看香港] Taiwan: SpringHill Publisher. ISBN: 9786267236864.
(2023). Research Report: The Hong Kong 2019 Protest Movement: A Data Analysis of Arrests and Prosecutions. Center for Asian Law, Georgetown University Law Center, (with Jun Chan and Thomas E. Kellogg).
(2023) "What Agnes Chow’s Case Tells Us About the Rule of Law in Hong Kong" The Diplomat, 8 December.
(2023) "Hong Kong’s Legal War on a Protest Anthem" The Diplomat, 1 August.
(2023) "Hong Kong Is Trying to Salvage Its Image. Who Is It Fooling?" The Diplomat, 27 March.
(2023) "Hong Kong’s Democratic Primary Trials Show a Dark Truth" The Diplomat, 4 February.
(2021) 《破解香港的威權法治: 傘後與反送中以來的民主運動》[Unravelling Authoritarian Rule of Law in Hong Kong: From Post-Umbrella Resistance to the Anti-Extradition Bill Protests] Taiwan: Showwe Information, 2021, ISBN: 9789865540654.