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Centre for Chinese and Comparative Law

Article by Dr. Shucheng Peter Wang on a Comparative Study of Judicial Review of Legislation in Hong Kong

23.09.2019

RCCL Core Member Dr. Shucheng Peter Wang recently published an article on a comparative study of judicial review of legislation in Hong Kong in Statute Law Review, a law journal of Oxford University Press. The article examines the deferential approach to judicial review of the legislative process as adopted by the Court of Final Appeal in Leung Kwok Hung v. The President of Hong Kong Legislative Council. Through a comparative analysis, it explains that the underlying basis on which the doctrines of separation of powers and the parliamentary privilege of exclusive cognizance, and the corresponding principle of non-intervention, are significantly different in Hong Kong.

Given Hong Kong’s semi-democratic system under the ‘one country, two systems’ rubric, it argues for a less traditional allocation of power between the different institutions of government and a more assertive judiciary vis-à-vis the legislature. Moreover, it suggests the necessity of developing a human-rights-based approach to the adjudication concerning the non-intervention principle in order to maintain its common law system with liberal principles under the ‘one country, two systems’ rubric. For the full article, see: Shucheng Wang, “Judicial Review of the Legislative Process in Hong Kong: A Comparative Perspective” Statute Law Review (Forthcoming, 2020).