THE WAY WE ARE
boat people arrived on the Huey Fong in December 1978, mine was one of few voices in the Legislative Council and outside which argued for not allowing them to land and not allowing Hong Kong to become a port of first asylum, for all the reasons which sadly came true in subsequent years. My calls were rejected after consideration and debate. I regret that we did not take a firmer line on this vexed issue from the outset but I felt that my point of view was given a proper hearing.
Our society has always enjoyed freedom of expression, which includes the free- dom to advocate changes of policy and practice. But we have never favoured sudden radical changes. Stability of policy and practice ensure that people know where they stand today and that things will not be too different tomorrow. However, stability does not mean rigidity. Radical changes have taken place in our society and its attitudes since World War II but they have come about gradually and without major disruption. It has been possible for everyone to adjust to them. When I became a member of the Legislative Council in 1976, Hong Kong had no nine years' compulsory education, hardly any labour protection laws, virtually no environmental- protection measures and the Legislative Council itself was a wholly appointed body with all its internal deliberations held in camera. How far we have come in 20 years. A corollary of all this is that the possibility of arbitrary action within our system is limited and that when such action is taken it is normally subject to appeal. One can appeal to the Courts, to the Governor or to the Governor in Council, as the case may be, and everyone has the right to petition a higher authority against the action of a lower. -
When the government raised the mooring charges for pleasure craft some years ago, a group of pleasure craft owners felt that the proposed new fees exceeded the cost of administering this activity. They appealed and the fees were eventually lowered. I remember thinking at the time how effective our system was. Even though the issue concerned a very small minority of our community, it received serious consideration by the Executive Council and the legitimate complaint of a small group was heard and put right.
Whether such appeals are few or many is beside the point. The real point is that the safeguard is there. The possibility of appeal is a brake on ill-considered action by any authority. There is a parallel in our commercial life in that anyone who is aggrieved by what he believes to be a breach of contract can appeal to the courts. This is a very important factor in facilitating the conduct of business and, indeed, in attracting business to Hong Kong.
The facts that our laws are published; that any action of government must have a legal basis; that all cases, criminal or civil, are normally heard in open court; and that there is an established body of statute and case law so that people know broadly what they can and cannot do all these contribute to a system that we sum up in the phrase 'the rule of law'.
The 'rule of law' is a term which means a great deal more to us than is contained in those words alone. We all know of countries where the courts are not independent arbiters between government and governed. When my husband was the Attorney General of Hong Kong, he once said in a debate in the Legislative Council that:
'The freedom established by law gives energy, enterprise and confidence to Hong Kong's people..... Everyone knows that in the last resort their rights will be
3