Awarded by UC Hastings College of the Law Board of Directors.

Visionary Service Award

Co-Founder of UC Hastings East Asian Legal Studies Program

Foundation Award for Scholarship

Awarded by the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal

Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal Distinguished Alumnus Award

Awarded by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations

Public Intellectuals Fellow

Cum Laude
Phi Beta Kappa
Myron Eels History Prize

National Committee on U.S.-China Relations

UC Hastings Asia Network

Heterodox Academy

New York Bar Association

Yale China Law Center: Former Beijing Director

United States Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison: Former Corporate Associate

Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal: Former Editor in Chief

Translator's Introduction to Liu Songshan, 1981: Embryonic but Inchoate Designs for a Constitutional Committee

Translation of Liu Songshan, 1981: Embryonic but Inchoate Constitutional Committee Designs for a Constitutional Committee

An Assessment of Socialist Constitutional Supervision Models and Prospects for a Constitutional Supervision Committee in China: the Constitution as Commander?

Understanding China's System for Addressing Legislative Conflicts: Capacity Challenges and the Search for Legislative Harmony

Exploring Constitutional Reforms in the Wake of the Bo Xilai Affair

Constitutionalizing Wukan: The Value of the Constitution Outside the Courtroom

Resolving Constitutional Disputes in Contemporary China

The NPCSC: The Vanguard of China’s Constitution

Citizens Engage the Constitution: The Sun Zhigang Incident and Constitutional Review Proposals in the People's Republic of China

Can Citizens Vitalize China's Constitution

Using Law for a Righteous Purpose: The Sun Zhigang Incident and Evolving Forms of Citizen Action in the People’s Republic of China 

Watching the Watchdog: China’s State Compensation Law as a Remedy for Procuratorial Misconduct

Translation of Wang Liming, An Inquiry into Several Difficult Problems in Enacting China’s Uniform Contract Law

Constitutional Supervision in China after the 2018 Amendment of the PRC Constitution: Refining the Narrative of Constitutional Supremacy in a Socialist Legal System

UC Hastings College of the Law was founded in 1878 as the first law department of the University of California, and today is one of the top-rated law schools in the United States. Our alumni span the globe and are among the most respected lawyers, judges and business leaders today. Our faculty are nationally renowned as both teachers and scholars.

UC Hastings College of the Law

Chinese Law and Legal Institutions

China and the International Legal Order

Contracts

Legal Reform in East Asia

Professor Keith J. Hand brings more than 25 years of professional experience in private practice, government, and academia to his teaching and research at UC Hastings.  Professor Hand's research focuses on legal reform in the Greater China, with particular attention to constitutional law, criminal justice, citizen efforts to use the law to promote legal and political change; and the role and development of China’s procuratorate.  In January 2015, he co-founded the UC Hastings East Asian Legal Studies Program with Senior Professor Setsuo Miyazawa.

Professor Hand holds a JD and an MAIS in China Studies from the University of Washington and a BA from Whitman College.  As a law student, he served as editor-in-chief of the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal.  After graduating Order of the Coif in 2000, he joined the New York office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where his practice focused on mergers and acquisitions and private equity funds. He later served as senior counsel to the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Immediately prior to joining the UC Hastings faculty in 2009, Professor Hand was Beijing director, senior fellow, and lecturer-in-law at Yale Law School’s China Law Center and visiting scholar at Peking University Law School. During his tenure with the Center, Professor Hand worked with Chinese courts, government agencies and law schools to implement cooperative legal reform projects in the areas of criminal justice, judicial reform and property law.

Professor Hand has been cited as an expert on Chinese legal issues in a wide variety of media, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Asia, Reuters, The Christian Science Monitor, ChinaFile, and Time.  In 2011, Professor Hand was named a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Public Intellectuals Fellow.  In 2014, he was presented with the UC Hastings Foundation Faculty Award for Scholarship.

A native of Seattle, Professor Hand enjoys the outdoors and rarely turns down an opportunity to travel through remote regions of Asia or ski, cycle, or hike at home.

Chinese Law

East Asian Legal Systems

Contract Law

Human Rights Law

Chinese Culture

English

Mandarin Chinese

Publications

Law Review Articles on SSRN

East Asian Legal Studies Program

ChinaFile Contributor Page

China Brief Contributor Page

Keith Hand Receives Foundation Faculty Award for Scholarship in East Asian Legal Systems

Keith Hand Returns from National Committee on US-China Relations Public Intellectuals Program Delegation to China

Professor Hand Builds Ties  Conducts Research on Chinese Legislative Conflicts

UC Hastings Sets Students Up for Success in East Asia

UC Hastings Develops Cooperative Program in Taiwan

Fall 2014 UC Hastings Magazine Article on East Asian Legal Studies Program (13-14)

Spring 2012 UC Hastings Magazine Article on Advancing U.S.-China Relations (p8)

Fall 2011 UC Hastings Magazine Article on Advancing Our Dialogue with China and New Faculty Profile of Professor Hand (p12-13  16)

Inside Fight over the American Bar Association’s Tepid Condemnation of Beijing’s Crackdown on Lawyers and Activists

China's Napoleon Complex

Kinas Advokater Bag Tremmer [Chinese Lawyers Behind Bars]

China’s Crackdown on Lawyers Sparks Debate on Party’s Strength

China’s ‘Rule by Law’ Takes an Ugly Turn

The Impact of China's New Crackdown on Civil Rights

At Least Six Missing after Clampdown on Human Rights Lawyers in China

Chinese Authorities Detain More than 200 Human Rights Lawyers

Rule of Law—Why Now?

China Moves to Reinforce Rule of Law, With Caveats

美国法律学者韩凯思建议中国设立宪法法院审查违宪行为 American Legal Scholar Keith Hand Recommends that China Establish a Constitutional Court to Review Unconstitutional Acts

A Tussle in China over the Communist Party Bowing to the Constitution

谢勇会见美国客人 Xie Yong Meets American Guest

Citizen Rights, the Constitution, and the Courts

A Step Forward: New Law Expands Government Liability

With New Law, China Reports Drop in Executions

Death Penalty Gets Tighter Scrutiny in China

China’s Message on Executions

Stram kurs mod pressen (The Press Tightens Up)

Chinese Rights Activists Put the Law on Trial

China's 2018 Constitutional Reforms: A New Era in Chinese Governance?

Balancing Crime Control and Privacy: A Comparative Constitutional Perspective on Technological Information Gathering in Criminal Investigations

Strong Forms and Weak Forms of Judicial Review: Do Chinese Courts Review Legislation in Practice?

Understanding China’s System for Addressing Conflicts in Legislation: Capacity Challenges and Implications for Constitutional Review

Understanding China’s System for Addressing Legislative Conflicts: Capacity Challenges and the  Search for Legislative Harmony

Elite Perspectives on the Rule of Law Panel

Constitutional Review in China

Dancing Handcuffed in a Minefield: China's Hidden Heroes in the Criminal Defense Bar

Comparative Perspectives on the Resolution of Legislative Conflicts

Foreign Perspectives on the Filing and Review System for Legislation (In Chinese)

Resolving Constitutional Disputes in Contemporary China (In Chinese)

Legal Dimensions of the U.S.-China Relationship

Constitutional Dispute Resolution in China

Constitutional Disputes in China,” presented at a panel on “Rule of Law in China: Progress or  Retreat?

China's Legal System at a Turning Point

Western Efforts to Influence Chinese Legal Reform

Advancing Rule of Law in China

Evolving Forms of Citizen Action in the People’s Republic of China

Conflict Over Forced Evictions in China

The Sun Zhigang Incident: Implications for Legal Reform and Citizen Action in China

China’s Criminal Procedure Law Amendments: What Can We Expect?

Recent Wrongful Conviction Cases in China and Their Impact on Criminal Justice Reform

Panelist: Human Rights and China Policy

Associate Dean for Global Programs, Professor of Law, and Director of the East Asian Legal Studies Program

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