A/ProfColin Hawes

Colin Hawes is Associate Professor in the Law Faculty at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Chairs the Faculty's International Engagement Committee. He is also a Research Fellow at the Australia China Relations Institute.

Dr. Hawes joined the UTS Law Faculty in 2005 after obtaining his PhD at the University of British Columbia and practising law in Vancouver, Canada. He has published three books and numerous articles on Chinese law and society and Chinese corporate governance in international journals such as Law and Society Review, Journal of Corporate Law Studies, and the American Journal of Comparative Law.

Colin is interested in the intersection between corporations, law and culture. His research focuses on the embedding of legal culture in contemporary Chinese legal practice, including the growth of legal precedents, the creative interpretation of corporate law by Chinese judges, and the impact of technology on the operation of the Chinese legal system. His most recent book, The Chinese Corporate Ecosystem (Cambridge University Press), shows how Chinese corporations have co-evolved by interacting creatively with their sociopolitical environment, leading to rapid growth yet massive ecological degradation. The book proposes channeling the 'vital energies' (qi) of government officials and corporate leaders through realigned incentive mechanisms to reverse the damage. 

Colin strongly believes in the value of internationalizing legal education. He has been invited by leading international universities to teach law courses or to conduct research as a visiting professor, including Oxford University (UK), China University of Politics and Law (Beijing), South-Western University of Politics and Law (Chongqing), University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University (Canada), and National Taiwan University in Taipei. Colin has also advised Chinese and international business executives and corporations on cross-border legal challenges, and regularly provides expert testimony on Chinese corporate/commercial law issues at various levels of Australian and Canadian courts, and for government investigations and international arbitration hearings.