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Chapter 2

The Legal System

'One fundamental aspect of the constitutional order of Hong Kong that is sometimes overlooked is that it is premised on both the Constitution of the PRC and the Basic Law of the HKSAR. As the Court of Final Appeal stated...: "The HKSAR was established by the NPC pursuant to Article 31 of the Chinese Constitution.

It did so by promulgating the Basic Law on 4 April 1990.""

- Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa Cheng, SC, at the ceremonial opening of the Legal Year 2019 on 14 January 2019

The legal system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) differs from that of the Mainland, and is based on the common law.

Basic Law

The HKSAR's constitutional framework is provided by the Basic Law, enacted by the National People's Congress (NPC) under Article 31 of the Constitution of the PRC.

Since the establishment of the HKSAR, the gradual development of a body of jurisprudence on the Basic Law has been reinforcing its effectiveness in determining the rights and freedoms guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong.

Law in HKSAR

As provided in Article 18 of the Basic Law, the laws in force in the HKSAR are:

the Basic Law;

⚫ the laws previously in force (before 1 July 1997) in Hong Kong (including the common law, ryles of equity and customary law as well as statutory law as referred to in Article 8 of the Basic Law), other than those not adopted as laws of the HKSAR in accordance with the Decision by the NPC's Standing Committee (NPCSC) made under Article 160 of the Basic Law because they contravened the Basic Law;

• laws enacted by the HKSAR's legislature which, according to Article 11(2) of the Basic Law, shall not contravene the Basic Law; and

1 Democratic Republic of the Congo v FG Hemisphere Associates LLC (No. 1)

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