A Paradigm Shift for Hong Kong’s National Security Constitution – A Comparative Study of the Impact of Its National Security Law

Abstract

Hong Kong has been a special administrative region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) since the latter resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997. Though China claims to be a unitary country, some scholars have argued that it actually adopts a quasifederal system because China has enacted a mini-constitution for Hong Kong, ie the Basic Law, after its resumption of sovereignty. Under the mini-constitution, Hong Kong enjoys either equivalent or even more powers in many areas than a state within a federal country such as the United States of America (USA). One unconventional autonomy granted to Hong Kong by the mini-constitution is in national security legislation. Under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong has been authorised to enact its own national security legislation to cover seven specific crimes against national security. The National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill6 proposed by the Hong Kong Government in 2003 (2003 NS Bill), which failed to obtain the endorsement of the Legislative Council (LegCo), includes addition of two crimes not available in local legislation and amendments of existing legislation on the other three crimes.