Amanda Whitfort

Associate Professor Amanda Whitfort BA(Hons)(Monash), LLB(Monash), LLM(London), MSc (Edinburgh) was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Australia, and has extensive practical experience in criminal law and prosecutions. After becoming the first local resident of Hong Kong to pass the Overseas Bar Qualification Examination in 2005, she was admitted to the Hong Kong Bar. Ms Whitfort currently leads the Criminal Litigation course on the PCLL programme and teaches Animal Law on the LLB, the first internationally-focused animal law programme in Asia.

Ms Whitfort has published and presented internationally on Criminal and Animal Law and is the leading authority on Animal Welfare Law in Hong Kong. She is the recipient of two government funded public policy research grants focused on improving animal protection legislation and her research and knowledge exchange on animal related laws have resulted in significant legislative and policy change for Hong Kong. In 2017, she was awarded the University’s Knowledge Exchange Excellence Award (video) in recognition of her work’s outstanding societal impact. She currently sits on the Hong Kong government’s Legal Sub-committee advising the Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department on animal related law and policy.

Ms Whitfort has received ongoing competitive funding to examine illegal wildlife trade in greater-China and her research in this area is used to train prosecutors and judges across Asia. She is the founder of the SVIS Initiative which provides law enforcement authorities worldwide with reliable scientific data assessing the ecological harms caused by wildlife crimes, in form of Species Victim Impact Statements (SVIS). Her research examining loopholes in Hong Kong’s capacity to effectively combat illegal wildlife trade led to the inclusion of wildlife offences in the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance in 2021.

She is a long standing contributor to Archbold Hong Kong (Sweet and Maxwell, Asia) and Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong: Vol 1: Animals (Butterworths) and is the author of Criminal Procedure in Hong Kong: A Guide for Students and Practitioners (LexisNexis, 3rd ed. 2020, with Jacky Yeung).

Research Area

• Animal Law
• Criminal Law and Procedure
• Trial Practice and Advocacy
• Environmental Law
• Green Crimes