The Centre for Medical Ethics and Law is an interdisciplinary centre for enquiry, education and engagement in bioethics and health law, established jointly by the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong. Its primary vision is to: - function as a focal point for international research excellence in the area of medical ethics and law - co-ordinate and provide teaching and training to university students and professionals - promote and disseminate its expertise to the benefit of the public. The Centre’s objectives are to promote excellence in the fields of research, teaching, knowledge exchange and professional training. Background and Values The medical profession carries heavy ethical responsibilities and involves highly regulated sets of practices. Engagement with ethics has been a continual concern of the profession, finding expression variously in the form of laws and professional codes. Today as medicine becomes increasingly complex and diverse, medical practice and research call for an interdisciplinary sensitivity to inform and develop its capabilities. More and more, the major source of contemporary regulatory input comes from the law. Laws and legal regulation are being increasingly invoked to hold medical practices, practitioners and research to account. This is true not only with respect to the resolution of disputes, but also in the setting out and monitoring of research agendas and procedures for the future. In the area of medical ethics and law therefore active intellectual dialogue between the two disciplines is imperative. Such dialogue enhances our understanding of core medical and health issues that local and international communities face and are likely to face in the future. The inter-relation of medical ethics and law thus stands to benefit both professions and the community at large.