The Judiciary

A key element in the past success and continuing attraction of the HKSAR
is that its judicial system operates on the principle, fundamental to the
common law system, of the independence of the judiciary from the
executive and legislative branches of government. The courts make their
own judgments, whether disputes before them involve private citizens,
corporate bodies or the government itself. The independence of the
Judiciary is provided for by the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the
Question of Hong Kong and the Basic Law.

The Court of Final Appeal is the highest appellate court in the HKSAR. It
replaces the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London upon the
change of sovereignty. It is constituted by the Chief Justice, three
permanent judges and one non-permanent Hong Kong Judge or one judge
from another common law jurisdiction. The Chief Justice is the head of
the Judiciary. He is assisted in the overall administration by the Judiciary
Administrator and her supporting team.

The High Court, comprising the Court of Appeal and the Court of First
Instance, is headed by the Chief Judge of the High Court. Sitting in the
High Court, in addition to the Chief Judge himself are nine Justices of
Appeal and 25 Judges of the Court of First Instance. The court's
Registrar and Deputy Registrars serve as Masters of the High Court in
civil trials in the Court of First Instance.

The Court of Appeal hears civil and criminal appeals from the Court of
First Instance and the District Court. The Court of First Instance's
jurisdiction is unlimited in both civil and criminal matters. Civil matters are
usually tried by Court of First Instance Judges sitting without juries,
although there is a rarely used provision for jury trials in certain cases,
including defamation. For criminal trials, they sit with a jury of seven, or
sometimes nine on special direction of the Judge.

The District Court is one level below the Court of First Instance. It has a
Chief District Judge and 33 Judges, who sit without a jury. The District
Court's civil jurisdiction is limited to disputes with a monetary value of up
to $120,000. The District Court tries more serious criminal cases but not
murder, manslaughter and rape. The maximum term of imprisonment is
seven years. It has appellate jurisdiction in stamp duty appeals and in its
family jurisdiction decides divorce, adoption and custody matters.

The Magistrates' Courts have the highest volume of cases of all the
courts, trying some 90 per cent of the cases heard annually in Hong
Kong. Besides one Chief and 10 Principal Magistrates, there are 53
professional magistrates sitting in 10 magistracies. The magistrates
exercise criminal jurisdiction over a wide range of offences. Although
there is a general limit of two years' imprisonment or a fine of $100,000,
many ordinances empower magistrates to impose sentences of up to
three years' imprisonment and heavier fines, in some cases up to $5
million. They also try cases in the Juvenile Court, which has jurisdiction
in charges against children and young persons up to 16 years, except in
cases of homicide. In addition to the professional magistrates, there are
11 Special Magistrates who handle routine cases such as littering and
minor traffic offences. Their powers of sentencing are limited to fines of
up to $50,000.

In addition to these principal courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction, there
are five tribunals. The Lands Tribunal has a special jurisdiction in rating
and valuation and assesses compensation when land is resumed by the
government or reduced in value by development. The Labour Tribunal
hears civil claims arising from contracts of employment. The Small
Claims Tribunal hears minor civil claims, up to a limit of $15,000 at
present. The Obscene Articles Tribunal determines whether or not an
article is obscene, and to classify it into statutory categories of
acceptability or otherwise. The Coroner's Court handles inquiries into
unusual circumstances causing death.

The Use of Chinese in Courts programme, drawn up by the Steering
Committee appointed by the Chief Justice to further the use of Chinese in
the higher courts, has been implemented. A bilingual court system in
which either or both of the official languages can be used was put in
place before June 30, 1997, in accordance with the requirement in Article
9 of the Basic Law.

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