General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6318 / JDOC6318 |
| Course name: | Public Health Ethics and Law |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This course will introduce students to public health law and ethics. With the understanding that ethics and law are two different domains of praxis and governance, and that ideally ethics should ground law, the first part of the course will focus on the ethics of public health. Through particular case studies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, this course will discuss emerging as well as recurrent themes in public health ethics discourse, including the tensions between private interest and the common good, and between the right to health and other human rights; as well as the practice of distributive justice and solidarity in the protection and promotion of population health. Specifics topics will include the ethics of isolation/quarantine and the social determinants of health. The second part of the course, informed by ethical perspectives from the first part, will focus on Hong Kong public health law in comparative perspective. Topics include the conceptual and historical foundations of public health law; the legal infrastructure of the public health system and the constitutional duties of actors within this system; the legal control of communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases; the law of public health emergencies; the legal regulation of food and drug safety; and occupational and environmental health law. During the course students will be encouraged to think critically and independently about complex ethical and legal dilemmas. No formal training in philosophy or ethics or jurisprudence is necessary.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Eric Ip | ericcip@hku.hk | CCT 705 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Acquire a concrete, critical, and comprehensive understanding of all main branches of public health law and ethics, with a focus on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
CLO 2 Develop the ability to creatively apply legal and ethical principles to address public health dilemmas in their political, social, and cultural contexts.
CLO 3 Attain the ability to evaluate new public health policies ethically and legally.
CLO 4 Strengthen sensitivity of the importance of the rule of law, human rights, and ethical values in the formulation of public health interventions.
CLO 5 Demonstrate awareness of the importance of holistic One Health and planetary health considerations in public health law and ethics.
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 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Debate essays | TBC | 20% | 2 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Essay assignment | TBC | 30% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | |
| Final exam | TBC | 50% | 1 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| *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
To be advised by course convenor(s).
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/