H. Fu & L. Harris 
Interpreting Hong Kong’s Basic Law: The Struggle for Coherence 

On July 1, 2007, Hong Kong celebrated its tenth anniversary as a special administrative region of China. It also marked the first decade of its unique constitutional order in which Hong Kong courts continue to apply and develop the common law but the power of final interpretation of the constitution lies with the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. This book is a collection of chapters by leading constitutional law experts in Hong Kong who examine the interpretive issues and conflicts which have arisen since 1997. Intervention by China in constitutional interpretation has been restrained but each intervention has had significant political and jurisprudential impact. The authors give varied assessments of the struggle for interpretive coherence in the coming decade.

Table of Content

Introduction PART I: INTERPRETING HONG KONG’S BASIC LAW Legislative History, Origina Intent, and the Interpretation of the Basic Law; S.Young Embracing Universal Standards?The Role of International Human Rights Treaties in Hong Kong’s Constitutional Jurisprudence; C.J.Petersen Constitutionalism in the Shadow of the Common Law: The Dysfunctional Interpretive Politics of Article 8 of the Hong Kong Basic Law; M.Dowdle Interpreting Constitutionalism and Democratisation in Hong Kong; M.Davis Forcing the Dance: Interpreting the Hong Kong Basic Law; R.Morris PART II: CROSSING THE BORDER One Term, Two Interpretations: The Justifications and the Future of Basic Law Interpretation; L.Feng & P.Lo Rethinking Judicial Reference: Barricades at the Gateway?; P.Lo Formalism and Commitment in Hong Kong’s Constitutional Development; Y.Xingzhong PART III: LEGISLATIVE INTERPRETATION AND THE PRC CONSTITUTION Legislative Interpretation by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee: a Power with Roots in the Stalinist Conception of Law; S.Woodman Of Iron or Rubber? People’s Deputies of Hong Kong to the National People’s Congress; F.Hualing & D.W.Choy China’s Constitutionalism; L.Harris

About the author

HUALING FU is Associate Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong.
LISON HARRIS is Assistant Research Officer at the Centre for Comparative& Public Law, University of Hong Kong.
SIMON YOUNG is Associate Professor; Deputy Director, Centre for Comparative and Public Law; and Co-Director, Asia-America Institute in Transnational Law at the University of Hong Kong.