Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Hong Kong Bar Association: Basic Law stipulates the separation of three powers

Publisher : Ming Pao / Direct translation

The Bar Association refute Carrie Lam: The Basic Law stipulates the separation of the three powers. Tam Yiu-chung: or misunderstands that the "three powers" have nothing to do with each other

Image : The Basic Law ensures Hong Kong smooth handover in 1997.



The argument that the Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and the Director of Education Yang Runxiong recently "no separation of powers in Hong Kong" caused controversy. The Bar Association issued a statement yesterday, rebutting the claim is unfounded, does not comply with the provisions of the Basic Law that clearly stipulates and defines the separation of powers, and deviates from the authoritative cases of many courts expounding the government structure of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Tan Yaozong, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress who was a member of the drafting committee of the Basic Law, said yesterday that the description of "separation of three powers" is inaccurate. Some people or misunderstandings mean that the three powers are the separation of powers. Each has nothing to do. However, "separation of powers" is not a forbidden language.


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The Bar Association stated that it was concerned about officials’ remarks that there is no separation of powers within the constitutional system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, saying that these remarks deviate from the previous statements of the two chief justices, and "make the public speculate about the government’s current constitution How does it work under the legal framework" (see table).

The Association pointed out that the administrative, legislative, and judicial powers and functions have been clearly defined in different parts of Chapter 4 of the Basic Law: According to Article 48, the Chief Executive leads the Hong Kong SAR government and is responsible for the implementation of the Basic Law and government policies. According to Article 59 of the Basic Law, the SAR government is the administrative agency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is accountable to the Legislative Council according to Article 64. According to Article 73, the Legislative Council makes, revises and abolishes laws. According to Article 80, the court exercises the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and, as described in Article 85, the court conducts trials independently without any interference.

Tai Lin met with reporters the day before and pointed out that Hong Kong does not have the separation of powers, including that the Special Administrative Region is accountable to the Central People’s Government through the Chief Executive. Clear regulations for local governance.

Chen Wenmin: The division of labour cannot be separated from one another

Tang Jiahua: The Basic Law does not talk about the separation of governance

Chen Wenmin, a professor at the School of Law of the University of Hong Kong, criticized on the RTHK program yesterday that Mrs. Lin's statement about the three powers seemed to be "playing a word game." She accepted that the three powers had a division of labor and mutual checks and balances. . Senior Counsel Tom Ka-wah said that the Basic Law does not talk about the separation or checks and balances of Hong Kong’s governance powers as much as possible. From the perspective of constitutional arrangements, there is indeed no separation of powers; but from the political concept, Hong Kong’s internal governance does have a certain degree of power separation. And check and balance each other.

Tam Yiu-chung: Actual power administration is heavier

Tan Huizhu: Separation of powers is the principle of trial

Tan Yaozong responded yesterday that Hong Kong’s administration, legislature, and judiciary each perform their duties, check and balance each other, and they also cooperate with each other. Central officials have always said this. He said that the Chief Executive represents the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is also the head of the executive authorities. Although the Basic Law does not specify that Hong Kong is "executive-led," the actual power distribution of the Chief Executive and the executive authorities is heavier.

Tang Yingnian, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, stated that the discussion was “specialized every few years.” When asked whether it was consistent with his understanding when he was an official, he said that the dispute had little impact on actual operations, and emphasized that the operation was effective, and the judiciary has not changed. Independent operation, "the separation of the three powers and the interpretation."

Tan Huizhu, deputy director of the Basic Law Committee, said yesterday that Hong Kong's constitutional framework is not a foreign country's "separation of powers". The "separation of powers" is a principle used by courts in hearing cases, not a political framework.

Ref: https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%e6%b8%af%e8%81%9e/article/20200903/s00002/1599070164143/%e5%a4%a7%e5%be%8b%e5%b8%ab%e6%9c%83%e9%a7%81%e6%9e%97%e9%84%ad-%e5%9f%ba%e6%9c%ac%e6%b3%95%e8%a8%82%e6%98%8e%e4%b8%89%e6%ac%8a%e5%88%86%e7%ab%8b-%e8%ad%9a%e8%80%80%e5%ae%97-%e6%88%96%e8%aa%a4%e8%a7%a3%e3%80%8c%e4%b8%89%e6%ac%8a%e9%bc%8e%e7%ab%8b%e3%80%8d%e5%90%84%e7%84%a1%e9%97%9c%e4%bf%82

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