XN000022-1992-01-13 — Page 6

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MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1992

THAT WESTERN CIVILISATION

EARLIER, THE CHIEF JUSTICE STATED BASED ITSELF ON A CONCEPT OF STRUGGLE AND INTERACTION BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, QUOTING PROFESSOR TOYNBEE: "THERE IS A RIGHT AND THERE IS WRONG, AND THE TWO ARE LOCKED IN PERPETUAL BATTLE.'

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ANOTHER SCHOLAR SAID WESTERN CIVILISATION WAS CENTRED ON CONFRONTATION, AS MANIFESTED, FOR EXAMPLE, IN PARLIAMENT, IN A COURT OF LAW, AND IN ALL FORMS OF DEBATE.

"THAT OF THE ORIENT IS HARMONY. THE WEST IN THEIR CONCEPT OF THE LAW STRESSES RIGHTS, ESPECIALLY RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL. IN THE ORIENT, THE EMPHASIS IS AN OBLIGATION: OBLIGATION TOWARDS UNIVERSE, TOWARDS ONE'S FELLOW MEN, AND TOWARDS ONESELF," HE EXPLAINED.

IN HIS SPEECH, THE CHIEF JUSTICE ALSO SHARED WITH THE A QUESTION WHICH HAD CAUSED HIM CONCERN OVER THE YEARS COMMON LAW TAKEN ROOTS IN HONG KONG?

AUDIENCE HAS THE

"EACH TIME GREAT BRITAIN FOUNDED A COLONY, THE SETTLERS BROUGHT WITH THEM A BRITISH FORM OF GOVERNMENT AND A BRITISH, OR ENGLISH, LEGAL SYSTEM,

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"OVER THE CENTURIES, THE COMMON LAW HAS MADE A HOME ON EACH THE CONTINENTS. IN SOME OF THE OLDER COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES, SUCH AS AUSTRALIA, CANADA AND NEW ZEALAND, THE COMMON LAW HAS TAKEN ROOT AND FLOWERED; IN OTHERS, THE LAW HAS YET ΤΟ FIND SOIL SUFFICIENTLY FERTILE FOR IT TO TAKE A FIRM HOLD, HE SAID.

SIR ΤΙ LIANG POINTED OUT THAT THE COMMON LAW WAS MORE CONFIDENTLY AND READILY ACCEPTED WHERE THE CULTURE AND TRADITION OF THE PEOPLE WERE AKIN TO THAT OF GREAT BRITAIN,

"WHERE THE COMMON LAW HAD TO CONTEND WITH AN INDIGENOUS AND LONG-ESTABLISHED CIVILISATION, THE PROCESS HAD TO TAKE MUCH LONGER, WITH MANY MORE HURDLES TO OVERCOME, HE ADDED.

TAKING THE TRANSPLANTATION OF FLOWERS AS AN EXAMPLE, THE CHIEF JUSTICE SAID: "IN RECENT YEARS, JURISTS HAVE DISCUSSED THE TRANSPLANTATION OF, NOT FLOWERS, BUT LAW, FROM ONE COUNTRY TO ANOTHER. QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ASKED AS TO WHETHER THE COMMON LAW HAS BEEN EFFECTIVELY TRANSPLANTED IN PARTS OF ASIA, WHETHER THE OLD ROMAN DUTCH LAW HAS BEEN HAPPILY ADOPTED IN SOUTH AFRICA, OR WHETHER CAMEROUN HAS FULLY ABSORBED THE SPIRIT OF THE FRENCH CONSTITUTION.'

STATING THAT THE QUESTIONS ASKED HAD ENORMOUS IMPLICATIONS, SIR TI LIANG SAID: "IT IS NOT SIMPLY A MATTER OF TRANSLOCATING A LEGAL SYSTEM TO ANOTHER COUNTRY. IT IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE THAT THE LAW, WHEN IT REACHES FOREIGN SOIL, SHOULD TAKE ROOT, AND FLOWER, AND PROPAGATE.

*IT IS ONLY WHEN THIS STAGE IS REACHED THAT ONE CAN SAY THE TRANSLOCATION IS COMPLETE AND TRANSPLANTATION HAS TAKEN

PLACE, " HE EXPLAINED.

/THE CHIEF