Hong Kong’s Constitutional Debate

This book explores legal and constitutional issues in Hong Kong’s relationship with mainland China through an analysis of the litigation on the right of abode of the children of Hong Kong residents who are born and live in the mainland. The litigation in the Hong Kong courts and the subsequent interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress were followed with keen interest both locally and internationally, and had provoked great controversy. The differing approaches to and styles of interpretation of the Court and the Standing Committee provide a vivid demonstration of the clash of legal systems within which Hong Kong’s constitutional system has to operate.

These issues are discussed in this book by Hong Kong’s leading legal scholars and practitioners. This book offers perspectives to solve these controversies and to develop an acceptable approach to the interpretation of the Basic Law. It captures the sustained public debate on constitutional issues and provides a historical record of this constitutional debate. It also contains the full texts of the decision of the Court and the Interpretation by the Standing Committee.

Johannes M M Chan is Professor (Reader) and Head of the Department of Law, the University of Hong Kong. He has written widely on international and local human rights issues. He is a practising barrister and also co-editor of the Hong Kong Public Law Reports and the Basic Law and Human Rights Bulletin. H L Fu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law, the University of Hong Kong. His research interests include Chinese criminal justice system, human rights in mainland China, and interactions between Hong Kong and mainland legal systems. Yash Ghai is the holder of the Sir Y K Pao Chair in Public Law in the Department of Law, the University of Hong Kong. He has written extensively on constitutional law including human rights and ethnic conflicts, and has advised governments and other bodies in constitutional developments.