CHAPTER 2
The Legal System
In November 2001, the Legislative Council of the HKSAR called for a comprehensive review of the community's legal needs and how those needs were being met. The Solicitor General chairs a consultative committee which has been set up in 2003 to oversee a Hong Kong research project. The committee comprises representatives from the legal services sector and other professional, academic and community bodies interested in promoting access to justice. A three-year consultancy study to carry out the research will commence in early 2004.
THE legal system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is based on the rule of law and the independence of the 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.
Continuation of the Legal System
A central theme of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law is one of continuity. Common law principles, and nearly all the 600 or so ordinances that were in force before July 1, 1997 continue to apply in the HKSAR. Some ordinances required adaptation to bring them into line with the Basic Law and to reflect Hong Kong's new status as a Special Administrative Region of the PRC, and the Government has introduced over 50 bills to make the necessary textual amendments to the legislation. Most of the ordinances have now been adapted. Ordinances that have not yet been adapted require further consideration of the policy issues involved.
The courts and tribunals that had previously been in existence were re-established on July 1, 1997 (though some were renamed) and the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal was established on that date. This replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the highest court of appeal for Hong Kong. All judges who were in
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