ABSTRACT
Hong Kong was a British colony from around the middle of the nineteenth century to almost the end of the twentieth century. As a result, the British system of judicial review, which is part of its common law, had been transplanted to Hong Kong during that period. After the People’s Republic of China (PRC) resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, the Basic Law of the PRC for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Basic Law), enacted by the National People’s Congress (NPC), became Hong Kong’s constitutional document, replacing the former colonial constitutional documents, i.e. the Letters Patent and Royal Instructions. As a result of this shift in sovereignty, British cases no longer have binding effect in Hong Kong. However, Article 84 of the Basic Law provides that courts in Hong Kong may make reference to judicial precedent in other common law jurisdictions. On the one hand, this constitutional development has made it possible for courts in Hong Kong to maintain their common law roots and take the most favourable components of other common law jurisdictions. On the other, it also enables Hong Kong courts to develop common law, including within the administrative litigation system (judicial review), 1 through incorporating characteristics that are unique to Hong Kong.
