Hong Kong, 12 October 2023: Acclaimed barrister Tim Owen KC will deliver the sixth annual HKU-Boase Cohen & Collins Criminal Law Lecture next month. His talk, “Judges, Democracy and the Criminal Law”, will be given at the University of Hong Kong on Friday 17 November, starting 7:00pm.

“We are thrilled that Tim has accepted our invitation to deliver this year’s Criminal Law Lecture. Given his immense standing in the legal world, we are certain his talk will be hugely popular with a large cross-section of the legal profession and the general public,” says BC&C Senior Partner Colin Cohen.

The lecture, to be held in the Philip KH Wong Theatre at HKU’s Pokfulam campus, is free of charge and open to all. Anyone wishing to attend should register here. Two evenings before the lecture, Tim will conduct a “fireside chat” with Colin before a small audience in a private event at the China Club.

Regarding the lecture topic, Tim says: “The past decade has seen a rise of populist political movements in many Western democracies with associated threats to the independence of the judiciary and, thus, the rule of law. I will be discussing these issues with particular focus on the administration of criminal justice.”

Co-founder of Matrix Chambers in London, Tim Owen KC is one of the leading barristers in England & Wales, a Deputy High Court Judge (Administrative Court) and an Acting Judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. He has appeared in many of the most significant public law and human rights cases over the past four decades, covering the fields of criminal law, national security, prisons, terrorism and political protests. He has regularly acted in high-profile cases in Hong Kong.

Tim co-hosts Double Jeopardy: The Law and Politics Podcast with former DPP Lord Ken Macdonald KC. He has been described as “One of the biggest legal brains at the criminal Bar” by Chambers & Partners and “A powerhouse of knowledge and experience” by the Legal 500.