Centre for Comparative and Public Law
HONG KONG CIVIL FORFEITURE RESEARCH PROJECT
Procedural Rules for Focus Group Meetings
• All participants are being invited in their personal capacities only;
• No minutes will be taken, in the traditional sense, at meetings. Any notes taken at
our meetings will be to note ideas or comments for reflection and research only.
The source of any particular comment will not be publicly identified and these
notes will not be made public;
• Focus Group meetings will be held under the Chatham House Rule, which states:
“When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule,
participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor
the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be
revealed”.1
• Focus Group participants should not feel any obligation to disclose the
confidential details of any particular case they have worked on. Professional
obligations of secrecy and confidentiality will be fully respected;
• All Focus Group meetings (including those with International Experts) will be
behind closed doors;
• All Focus Group participants will have an opportunity to view the draft Final
Report and make comments before it is made public;
• We will also include a disclaimer clause in the Final Report to the effect that
Focus Group participants served in their personal capacity for purposes of
consultation and that all findings and recommendations in the report are attributed
solely to the Principal Investigator.
Prepared by Simon NM Young and Jennifer Stone
11 May 2006
1 For further information about the origin and operation of the Chatham House Rule, see:
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/index.php?id=14