European Legal Principles as Applied in Hong Kong

This book contains the text of the Inaugural Caius Mok Law Lecture, given by The Honourable Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

The coming into effect of the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance saw the constitutional implementation of the rights contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The more than twenty years that have passed since the exercise of the resumption of sovereignty by the People’s Republic of China over Hong Kong have seen the latter’s courts grapple with legal challenges hitherto untouched. Cases have at times involved sensitive areas since some of the cases have originated from controversial political, social and economic events. In meeting the legal challenges, the courts in Hong Kong have had to seek guidance from different sources and much assistance has been derived from European jurisprudence. The manner in which rights have been treated in European jurisprudence has been a major influence on how legal challenges unique to Hong Kong have been conceptualized and resolved under her common law system.