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THE LEGAL SYSTEM
THE legal system in Hong Kong is firmly based on the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.
The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China provide that the present judicial system will be maintained after 1997, except for those changes consequent upon the establishment of the Court of Final Appeal (CFA). At the 20th meeting of the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group (JLG) in September 1991, the two sides reached agreement in principle on the early establishment of the CFA in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Government has drafted a Court of Final Appeal Bill on the basis of this JLG agreement, and with due regard for the relevant provisions of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. The draft CFA Bill was handed over to the Chinese side in May. The government also sought comments on the draft Bill from the legal profession in Hong Kong in November. It is hoped that the Bill will be passed by the Legislative Council by July 1995, to allow sufficient time for the establishment of the CFA by July 1996.
The body of local jurisprudence on the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance continued to grow during the year, mainly in relation to the criminal law. Plans have been drawn up to establish courts at various levels to handle the increasing number of cases involving the Bill of Rights.
The past year saw major developments in the area of human rights protection. Among these were the announcement of plans for legislation on the protection of personal data and for the setting up of an Equal Opportunities Commission.
Law in Hong Kong
The Governor, acting with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, has the power to enact laws for the peace, order and good government of Hong Kong. Most of the legislation applicable in the territory is enacted in the form of ordinances or as subsidiary legislation made under an ordinance. These ordinances, together with the common law and rules of equity, are the main sources of law in Hong Kong.
The Attorney General's Chambers are responsible for drafting new legislation in both Chinese and English, and for translating existing legislation into Chinese. Both the Chinese and English texts are authentic texts of the laws. The first bilingual ordinance was enacted on April 13, 1989. Since then, all new principal legislation has been enacted bilingually. In
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