7
THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1987
+IN ALL THESE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD, LIKE HONG KONG, FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF LAW ARE BERIVED FROM PAST JUDICIAL DECISIONS. LAWYERS RESORT TO THE BOOKS TO FIND ILLUSTRATIONS OF THOSE PRINCIPLES APPLIED TO PARTICULAR CASES, AND CITE THEM AS PRECEDENTS AS PART OF THEIR ARGUMENT.+
... MAY REFER THE JOINT DECLARATION STATES THAT +THE COURTS TO PRECEDENTS IN OTHER COMMON LAW JURISDICTIONS, MR THONAS ADDED.
80 AFTER 1997, AS TODAY, IT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISING TO FIN A HỒNG KÔNG LAWYER REFER TO JUDGEMENTS FROM NOT ONLY HONG KONG, BUT COURTS IN ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, GANABA, AND KENYA IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE TO THE COURT HOW THE PARTICULAR DISPUTE MEFORE IT WAS TO BE BECIDED, CONSISTENTLY WITH THE CASE LAW, NE SAID.
*THIS 18 A VERY IMPORTANT INHERITANCE FOR A SMALL TERRITORY WITH A POPULATION OF ONLY FIVE AND A HALF MILLION PEOPLE,+ HE SAID.
MR THOMAS NOTED THAT ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE LAW IN HONG KONG WAS TO BE FOUND IN HONG KONG'S ORDINANCES. +THE BULK OF IT IS TO BE FOUND IN THE LEGAL, TEXT BOOKS AND COMMENTARIES AND IN THEIR RAW MATERIAL, THE LAW REPORTS, WHICH TOGETHER MAKE UP THE COMMON LAW.+
THE SECOND FEATURE OF THIS IMPORTANT BUARANTEE, HE SAID, WAS THAT HONG KONG WOULD REMAIN PART OF A MUCH LARGER LEGAL COMMUNITY MADE UP OF ALL THOSE JURISDICTIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WHICH APPLY THE COMMON LAW.
AS
+THE COURTS OF HONG KONG WILL NOT DE CONFINED TO THEIR OWN BODY OF CASE LAW OR THEIR OWN LIMITED SUPPLY OF PRECEDENTS. NEW DEVELOPMENTS TAKE PLACE. BOTH HERE AND IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS, ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES MAY NEED TO BE RECONSIDERED AND REFINED TO ACCORD WITH MODERN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS, MR THOMAS SAID.
AS THE COMMON LAW RESPONDS TO THIS CHALLENGE, 80 HONG KONG WILL BE ABLE TO DRAW UPON THE REASONING OF JUDGES IN OTHER COMMON LÄN JURISDICTIONS AND WHERE APPROPRIATE TO APPLY THEM IN HONG KONG, HE SAID.
•THE COMMON LAW IS THEREFORE A LARGE RESERVOIR OF LEGAL WISDOM, CONSTANTLY REPLENISHED, MR THOMAS SAID.
+HÔNG KONG WILL BE ABLE TO DRAW FROM THIS RESERVOIR IN DECIDING ITS OWN DISPUTES.
·ESPECIALLY IN A COMMUNITY WHERE THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNITY HAS MADE ITS HOME, IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT HONG KONG SHOULD BE PLUGGED IN TO OTHER COMMON LAW JURISDICTIONS. AND THAT OUR JUDGES SHOULD BE ABLE TO DRAW INSPIRATION FROM THEM.
/+THE JOINT