Electoral Disqualification, Political Allegiance, and the Courts: A 'Fruitless Debate'?

10 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2020 Last revised: 26 Aug 2020

See all articles by Po Jen Yap

Po Jen Yap

The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Zixin Jiang

The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Date Written: 2019

Abstract

We disagree with the Court of First Instance’s decision in Chow Ting v Teng Yu Yan Anne to confer upon the Returning Officer (RO) the power to evaluate the authenticity of election candidates’ intentions to uphold the Basic Law and to disqualify those who are deemed disingenuous. In our view, neither the text of s 40(1)(b)(i) of the Legislative Council Ordinance (Cap 542) nor its history indicates that the RO has this power. The Court of Appeal’s decision in Chief Executive of HKSAR v President of the Legislative Council is not precedent for this position. The 2016 Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Interpretation also does not mandate this result.

Suggested Citation

Yap, Po Jen and Jiang, Zixin, Electoral Disqualification, Political Allegiance, and the Courts: A 'Fruitless Debate'? (2019). 49 Hong Kong Law Journal 825, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2020/002, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3515000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3515000

Po Jen Yap (Contact Author)

The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law ( email )

Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
China

HOME PAGE: http://hub.hku.hk/rp/rp01274

Zixin Jiang

The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law ( email )

Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
China

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