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Chapter 2
The Legal System
"It is fundamental to the rule of law that the Judiciary is and must be seen to be independent. Judicial independence is essential to enable judges to perform their constitutional role of adjudicating disputes between citizens and between citizen and government fairly and impartially. In approaching the discharge of their duties, judges do so in a spirit of humility," 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 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.
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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