HONG KONG 2005

Introduction

"The constitutional role of judges is to
adjudicate disputes between citizens and
between citizen and government fairly and
impartially. Everyone is equal before the
law. Citizen and government, the powerful
and the weak, the rich and the poor are
all equal before the courts," said the Chief
Justice, Mr Andrew Li Kwok-nang, at the
opening of the Legal Year.

The legal system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is founded on the rule of law and an independent judiciary. Under the principle of 'one country, two systems', the HKSAR's legal system differs from that of the Mainland, and is based on the common law.

The constitutional framework for the legal system is provided at the international level by the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which was signed in December 1984. It is provided at the domestic level by the Basic Law — a law enacted by the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) under Article 31 of the Chinese Constitution. Both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law guarantee the continuance of the legal system that was in place before China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong on July 1, 1997.