General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6102 / JDOC6102 |
| Course name: | White Collar Crime: Law and Practice |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
| Cap on student numbers: | 30 [priority to LLM(CR) students] |
1.2 Course description
White collar crimes are often defined as non-violent offences that are committed for financial gain. They are characterised by, among other things, deceit, concealment, and violation of trust. Every organisation can be potentially exposed to different types of white collar crimes, though its level of exposure to such issues, be it in scale and complexity, may vary depending on its nature and size. White collar crimes not only reflect a social problem, but they can sometimes create an issue of such magnitude that can ultimately bring an organisation to its knees once they strike its very core.
While the focus of this course will predominantly be on the legal/regulatory aspects of white collar crimes, part of the discussion will include examining the ways to how an organisation can prevent this types of issues in practice and manage them in the event of occurrence.
This course is divided in three main parts. The first part provides an overview of the different types of white collar crimes. A selection of such crimes will be examined in greater detail, taking into account the legal offences and defences.1 Emerging white collar crime issues will also be discussed in this part. The second part covers the investigation and law enforcement aspects of white collar crime. The third part examines ways to prevent and manage white collar crime risk from within, highlighting in particular the role of compliance management, whistle-blowing and internal monitoring/investigation.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | John Lee | johncmlee@hku.hk | N/A | By email |
| Course convenor | Henry Yu | letpen@hku.hk | N/A | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Definition and conceptualisation of white collar crimes.
CLO 2 Different types of white collar crimes and corresponding legal elements/issues and enforcement aspects.
CLO 3 Common risk exposure that an organisation faces with regards to white collar crimes.
CLO 4 Practical strategies and measures to mitigate white collar crime risk within an organisation.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Research synopsis | TBC | 15% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Research paper | TBC | 85% | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
Briefly describe the types of learning activities that you expect students to engage in during this course.
- Real life case studies classroom discussion
- Group assignment
- Presentation on research
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/