Twilight of the Idolised: Backsliding in Hong Kong's Legal and Judicial Cultures

A version of this manuscript has been submitted for inclusion as a Chapter in this forthcoming book: Cora Chan and Fiona De Londras (eds), 'China's National Security: Endangering Hong Kong's Rule of Law?' (Hart Publishing, 2020).

27 Pages Posted: 18 Jun 2019

See all articles by P. Y. Lo

P. Y. Lo

The University of Hong Kong

Date Written: June 9, 2019

Abstract

One of Hong Kong's key strength since China resumed exercise of sovereignty over the territory has been its adherence to the Rule of Law under a common law based legal system. Hong Kong's judges and lawyers have played a major part in the maintenance of this system and its core values. This manuscript challenges the expectation on the part of various social actors in Hong Kong that judges and lawyers of this Special Administrative Region of China will be a source of resilience against Chinese encroachments of the rights and other values that define or distinguish Hong Kong's systems and way of life. It also asserts that there are now signs in Hong Kong pointing to the backsliding of elements that are needed to main the Rule of Law.

Keywords: Hong Kong, Basic Law, Courts, Judges, Lawyers, Rule of Law, Sovereignty, Security, Development, Backsliding

JEL Classification: H10, H11, K10, K19, K40

Suggested Citation

Lo, P. Y., Twilight of the Idolised: Backsliding in Hong Kong's Legal and Judicial Cultures (June 9, 2019). A version of this manuscript has been submitted for inclusion as a Chapter in this forthcoming book: Cora Chan and Fiona De Londras (eds), 'China's National Security: Endangering Hong Kong's Rule of Law?' (Hart Publishing, 2020)., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3401461 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3401461

P. Y. Lo (Contact Author)

The University of Hong Kong ( email )

Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong, Pokfulam HK
China

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