Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng today signed a framework arrangement for collaboration with Chinese Institute of Hong Kong Executive Vice-President Prof Huang Ping who is authorised by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

Such an arrangement will enable exchanges and co-operation concerning rule of law research in an effort to continue fostering the building of Hong Kong's Rule of Law Database, which was officially launched in November last year.

Under the arrangement, both sides will strive to strengthen, encourage and promote exchanges and co-operation in the area of rule of law research.

The Chinese Institute of Hong Kong will also conduct dedicated studies on issues related to the rule of law and the building of a rule of law database with objective data.

Under the co-ordination of the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Chinese Institute of Hong Kong, the CASS may collaborate with experts in areas such as academic research.

Ms Cheng said the CASS is a prestigious Mainland academic institution that focuses on the study of social sciences.

As a branch of the CASS, the Chinese Institute of Hong Kong pools together academic and social resources in the city and the Mainland to initiate various types of research in social sciences.

The signing of the framework arrangement for collaboration will be conducive to understanding the practice of rule of law based on analysis of objective data, she added.

Hong Kong's Rule of Law Database is one of the important projects under the DoJ's Vision 2030 for Rule of Law initiative, collecting and collating objective data and research relating to the practice of rule of law.