Amanda Whitfort

PRACTICE
Amanda Whitfort was the first local candidate to pass the Hong Kong Bar Association's Overseas Barristers Qualification Examinations in 2005. She was called to the Bar in Hong Kong in 2006. She is also the recipient of the Brigid Cotter Prize for the highest aggregate mark awarded on the University of London's LLM (External) programme in 2001. In July 2003 she was awarded the National Institute for Trial Advocacy's Diploma in Advocacy Skills (USA).

She holds the title of Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong where she has been course leader of the Criminal Litigation course on the Postgraduate Certificate of Laws since 2001. She is the author of "Criminal Procedure in Hong Kong: A Guide for Students and Practitioners" (Hong Kong, LexisNexis, 2006). She is also a contributor to "Archbold Hong Kong". She is appointed Chief Examiner in Criminal Procedure, by the Law Society of Hong Kong, for its Overseas Lawyers Qualification Examinations. She is also the Chief Examiner in Criminal Procedure for the PCLL Conversion Examination for Overseas Students.

Along with her Hong Kong practice she has been admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor in Victoria, Australia since 1995, and has extensive experience in the criminal law and procedure of that jurisdiction. Whilst practising in Australia, she was a member of the Victorian Public Prosecutor's Office where she oversaw the County Court criminal lists for regional Victoria.

After relocating to Hong Kong in 1998 she joined the University of Hong Kong where she currently lectures in the Law Faculty on the LLB, LLM and PCLL programmes. Whilst her major contribution to these programmes is as chief lecturer in Criminal Procedure, she has also taught Trial Advocacy, Civil Procedure, Civil Advocacy and Professional Practice on the PCLL programme. In addition she teaches Environmental Law on The University of Hong Kong's Masters of Science in Environmental Management. She is vice chair of the SPCA's Legal Working Party on Law Reform in Hong Kong, her interest in this area leading her to commence teaching Asia's first international Animal Law course in 2009.

PUBLICATIONS
Journal Articles

The Proposed Offence of Persistent Sexual Abuse of a Child (2002)

Determining an Indeterminate Sentence (2003)
Similar Fact Evidence, Its Uses and Limitations (2004)
Muddying the Waters; The Water Pollution Control Ordinance and defining pollution of Rivers and Streams in Hong Kong (2005) co-authored by Professor David Dudgeon

The Chinese Criminal Defence System: A Comparative Study of a System in Reform (2005)

The Right to a Fair Trial in China; The Criminal Procedure Law of 1996 (2007)

Presumed Guilty: Reverse Burdens of Proof and the Presumption of Innocence (2007)
co-authored with Hanif Mughal, Barrister at Law

Books
Criminal Procedure in Hong Kong; A Guide for Students and Practitioners
(2006)

The Annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong: Theft Ordinance (Cap 210)
(2007)

The Annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong: Homicide Ordinance (Cap 339)
(2007)

Archbold Hong Kong 2009 (author of two chapters)

Halsbury's Laws of Hong Kong: Title 1(2) Animal Law (2008)
Conference Papers

Law Reform and the Proposed New Sexual Offence Against Children, Legal Practitioners Professional Development Seminar, (2002)

Expanding the Defence of Consent to Crimes of Assault, Seminar to Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents and Journalists, (2002)

Similar Fact Evidence and Criminal Trials, Law Lectures for Practitioners, (2003)

Reforming the Chinese Criminal Defence System, International Symposium on Criminal Defence Strategies of the PRC, Shanghai, (2003)

Burdens of Proof, Possession of Imitation Firearms and Dangerous Drugs, Peking University/Hong Kong University Legal Research Centre Conference (2006)

Presumed Innocent? New Trends in Criminal Justice, Law Lectures for Practitioners (2007)

Criminal Procedure in Hong Kong and the Role of International Law Instruments,
Macau International Symposium on Law and Citizenship, Macau (2008)

Hong Kong's Animal Welfare Laws, RSPCA (International) and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing (2008)

Advancing Animal Law in Asia, Lewis and Clark Law School, USA (2008)