MONDAY, MAY 20, 1985
POWER OF 'RULE OF LAW' FOR LIBERTY STRESSED
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HONG KONG, WITH THE ESTABLISHED TRADITION OF THE COMMON LAW BEHIND IT, HAD AT ITS DISPOSAL POWERFUL WEAPONS WITH WHICH TO PRESERVE LIBERTY AND TO CHALLENGE OPPONENTS OF FREEDOM, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, MR MICHAEL THOMAS, SAID TODAY.
THAT TRADITION, HE SAID, WAS ACCORDED THE TITLE THE RULE OF LAW+.
ADDRESSING HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS THIS AFTERNOON ON THE QUESTION OF WHAT WAS MEANT BY THE RULE OF LAW+, MR THOMAS EXPLAINED IT WAS A REFERENCE TO SOME OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LAW THAT GOVERNED THE WAY IN WHICH POWER WAS EXERCISED.
IT WAS ALSO A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION TO YOUNG PEOPLE GROWING
UP IN HONG KONG AT THIS TIME, HE SAID,
FOR THE IDEA OF THE RULE OF LAW+ LAY AT THE HEART OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM WHICH THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION PROMISED TO PRESERVE AFTER 1997, WHEN HONG KONG BECAME PART OF CHINA,
IT HAD FORMED THE BASIS OF LAW AND ADMINISTRATION THROUGHOUT THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND SURVIVED IN MANY PLACES AFTER BRITISH RULE ENDED.
+ IT HAS CERTAINLY TAKEN ROOT AND FLOURISHED IN HONG KONG, MR THOMAS SAID.
BRITAIN AND HONG KONG, MR THOMAS SAID, DID NOT HAVE WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS FOR EVERYONE TO READ, LIKE THOSE OF THE UNITED STATES, SOVIET RUSSIA OR CHINA, BECAUSE THOSE COUNTRIES HAD ALL BEEN THROUGH REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES WHILE BRITAIN HAD AVOIDED REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES.
AT
+ THE ABSOLUTE POWER OF ITS KINGS WAS TAMED GRADUALLY, FIRST BY THE BARONS AND LATER BY ITS OWN PEOPLE IN PARLIAMENT. IN THE MEANTIME, THE JURISTS WERE EXPOUNDING THE LAWS AND THE JUDGES WERE APPLYING THEM TO CASES THAT CAME TO COURT.
+THUS THE COMMON LAW OR CUSTOMARY LAW DEVELOPED OUT OF THE TEXTBOOKS AND REPORTS OF DECIDED CASES.
+EVEN TODAY THE LAWYERS CAN REFER A JUDGE TO A DECISION THAT IS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD TO SHOW WHAT THE LAW IS,+ HE SAID.
THE POWER TO MAKE NEW LAWS WAS ENJOYED BY PARLIAMENT WHO, WITH THE FORMAL ASSENT OF THE KING, MADE STATUTES WHICH WERE JUST AS BINDING ON THE KING'S SUBJECTS AS THE RULES LAID DOWN BY THE JURISTS AND THE JUDGES.
/+BUT NOWHERE