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The Legal System

Law in HKSAR

The laws in force in the HKSAR are:

the Basic Law;

⚫ the national laws listed in Annex III to the Basic Law and as applied to the HKSAR by way

of promulgation or legislation;

⚫ the laws in force before 1 July 1997 (including the common law, rules of equity and customary law as well as statutory law), other than those not adopted as laws of the HKSAR by the NPC's Standing Committee because they contravened the Basic Law; and

⚫ laws enacted by the HKSAR's legislature.

National laws that may be added to Annex III to the Basic Law are confined to those relating to defence and foreign affairs, as well as other matters outside the HKSAR's autonomy.

The Chinese and English texts of the legislation of the HKSAR are equally authentic. The Hong Kong e-Legislation website provides current and past versions of consolidated legislation dating back to 30 June 1997 and copies of legislation marked 'verified copy' have legal status. The hard-copy loose-leaf edition of legislation is being phased out.

Legal Protection for Rights of the Individual

Chapter III of the Basic Law prescribes the fundamental rights and duties of Hong Kong residents. Among others, Article 39 provides that the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and international labour conventions as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force and shall be implemented through the laws of the HKSAR.

Protection against discrimination is provided for in the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, Disability Discrimination Ordinance, Family Status Discrimination Ordinance and Race Discrimination Ordinance, which are enforced by the Equal Opportunities Commission, while the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, which is administered by the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, protects the privacy of individuals in relation to personal data.

United Nations Human Rights Treaties

Fifteen international human rights treaties are applicable to Hong Kong. Seven of these, namely the ICCPR, ICESCR, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, require states parties to submit periodic reports and other requested information to UN treaty monitoring bodies. With the exception of the ICCPR, which does not apply to the Mainland of China, the HKSAR submits these reports as part of corresponding reports submitted by China and HKSAR teams attending hearings of the relevant treaty bodies

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