Mandating Symbolic Patriotism: China’s Flag and Anthem in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Brendan Clift
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Special Administrative Region ◽  
Political Dissent ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Literature ◽  
National Anthem ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
British Colony

Abstract The Hong Kong statute criminalizing disrespect of the Chinese national anthem, passed in 2020, is one of many recent moves to suppress political dissent in the former British colony. The law restricts freedom of political expression, but its constitutionality is practically assured courtesy of earlier decisions upholding laws against flag desecration. This article draws on sociological and political literature to argue that symbolic nationalism, particularly when given the force of law, is a tool of the authoritarian state. Against this backdrop, it critically and comparatively analyses Hong Kong judicial decisions upholding the suppression of symbolic dissent, assessing their doctrinal coherence, normative defensibility, and consequences. It concludes with observations on the efficacy of attempts to enforce patriotic orthodoxy and on how deference to authoritarianism affects the rule of law.

scholarly journals Pursuing Democracy in an Authoritarian State: Protest and the Rule of Law in Hong Kong

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benny Tai ◽  
Scott Veitch ◽  
Fu Hualing ◽  
Richard Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Authoritarian State

scholarly journals Developing an Index of the Rule of Law: Sharing the Experience of Hong Kong

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benny Y.T. Tai
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Downward Trend ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Major Aspect ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative

AbstractThe Rule of Law is considered a major aspect of modern governance. For every legal system, it is important whether the Rule of Law is attained and how far it has been attained. Though there are various indicators and indexes of the Rule of Law they all have their limitations. This paper reported a study conducted in Hong Kong in 2005, combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies, to assess the level of attainment of the Rule of Law in Hong Kong. It is found that the level of attainment is high but a downward trend is also discovered. A main objective of developing this new methodology in assessing Rule of Law, is that it could be used for tracking the development of the Rule of Law in a particular legal system and facilitating comparison between legal systems.

“Key challenges facing the rule of law in Hong Kong”

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryuta Hagiwara
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Chinese Law

Purpose This paper aims to highlight key challenges to the rule of law in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach This study deploys a historical and legal approach to explore the key challenges to the rule of law in Hong Kong. In particular, this paper analyzes legal conflicts in Hong Kong. Findings The findings show how the rule of law in Hong Kong has become a prominent battlefield of a constitutional struggle between Hong Kong Law and Chinese Law. Originality/value This paper hypothesizes that the conflicts arise from the different interpretations and conceptualizations of the rule of law between China and Hong Kong.

¿Desacuerdos teóricos o decisiones contra legem?

2014 ◽  
pp. 1761-1773
Author(s):  
Victoria ITURRALDE SESMA
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Public Authority ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Previous Statement ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
The Law

LABURPENA: Botere publiko guztiak legeen mende egotea da Zuzenbide-estatu demokratikoen ezaugarrietako bat. Epaileei eta tribunalei dagokionez, aurreko adierazpen horrek ez du zalantzarik sortzen; praktikan, baina, epai judizial asko hartzen diren legetik kanpora, interpretatzeko orduan zalantzarik sortu gabe. Artikulu honetan aztertzen dut ea hori eszeptizismo semiotiko batean oinarritzen den eta hori jasangarria den teorikoki, edo, aldiz, arauen esanahiak mugak dituen. Bigarren aukeraren alde egiten dut, eta muga hori hizkuntzaren izaera konbentzionalak ematen duela adierazten dut. RESUMEN: Una característica de los Estados democráticos de derecho es el sometimiento de todos poderes públicos a las leyes. Por lo que se refiere a los jueces y tribunales, la afirmación anterior no plantea ninguna duda; sin embargo en la práctica son frecuentes las decisiones judiciales que, no planteando ninguna duda interpretativa, se toman al margen de ley. En este artículo analizo si ello se basa en un escepticismo semiótico y si este es sostenible teóricamente o si, por el contrario, el significado de las normas tiene límites. Me inclino por esta segunda alternativa, señalando que ese límite viene dado por el carácter convencional del lenguaje. ABSTRACT: The submission of every public authority to the laws is a characteristic of the democratic states based on the rule of law. As far as judges and courts are concerned, the previous statement does not cast doubt; nevertheless in practice there are often judicial decisions that although without any interpretative doubt, are adopted outside the law. In this article I analyze whether it is based on a semiotic scepticism and is theoretically sustainable or on the contrary the meaning of norms has limits. I am inclined for this second option noting that that limit is given by the conventional character of the language.

scholarly journals Protest und Demokratisierung in Myanmar: Erste Erkenntnisse aus dem „Myanmar Protest Event Dataset“

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 295-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Buschmann
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Economic Transition ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Reforms ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
The Right ◽  
Human Rights Standards

Abstract Myanmar has been perceived to be in a sociopolitical and economic transition since the semi-civilian government under President Thein Sein took office in 2011. Amongst other things, for a representative democracy to function, citizens have to have the freedom to express their opinions and deliberate them with fellow citizens. This requires the secure granting of fundamental civil liberties, as prescribed in the freedom of expression, association, and assembly. Hence, once in the process of democratization, a formerly authoritarian state has to make significant improvements in the granting and protection of these rights too. To empirically test whether Myanmar has made such improvements since 2011 is the goal of a greater research project I am working on. This research note introduces the project and summarizes first findings. By combining knowledge on legal reforms and protest data from the Myanmar Protest Event Dataset, it is suggested that, in Myanmar, the de jure exercisability and de facto exercise of fundamental civil liberties have significantly improved from 2011 to 2015. Informal methods of suppressing the right to protest, such as arbitrary violence, have increasingly descended while methods that are formally in accordance with the rule of law but still lack compliance with international human rights standards have ascended.

Power Dependence and Democratic Transition: The Case of Hong Kong

1991 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 774-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan Hsin-chi
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Special Administrative Region ◽  
Power Dependence ◽  
Administrative Region ◽  
Unitary State ◽  
British Colony ◽  
Rules Of The Game

Hong Kong is a British colony. It will become, in 1997, a Special Administrative Region under the authority of the Central People's Government of China, i.e. a local government within a unitary state. Thus, Hong Kong is and will remain a dependent polity. In a situation of power dependence, the choice of the rulers of the hegemonic country who set the rules of the game is crucial for political change in the dominated polity.

Forty Years of Public Law

1990 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 341-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kretzmer
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Public Law ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
Intellectual Revolution ◽  
Do So

It would be impossible in a short lecture to give a comprehensive survey of all the changes that have occurred in the last forty years in that branch of law known as “Israel common law”. I will not, therefore, try to do so. Instead, I wish to single out the most distinctive phenomenon in this area of law. I refer to the conceptual/intellectual revolution in the outlook of the court regarding the nature of its judicial function. The original view, according to which the sole function of the court in the area of public law is to decide disputes between citizens and public authorities, has been abandoned and replaced by an outlook that views the court as an institution responsible for the legality of public administration, or, as the court itself is accustomed to defining the matter, for the rule of law.I shall divide my discussion into two parts. In the first part I will briefly discuss the prominent changes that have occurred in the judicial decisions regarding public law in recent years, and the judicial philosophy underlying these changes.

Lady Justice or the golden calf? The “China factor” in Hong Kong’s legal system

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-196
Author(s):  
Yan-Ho Lai
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Joint Declaration ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
Twentieth Anniversary ◽  
Political Economic

Purpose Despite the preservation of “One Country, Two Systems” for 50 years under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Basic Law, changes are palpable due to the emergence of a real contest between liberal and pro-China actors in the legal profession and the legal environment in Hong Kong. After celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Hong Kong’s sovereignty transfer from Britain to China, it is valuable to study how the sovereign power influence the rule of law in its semiautonomous city by non-legal measures. This paper aims to offer a preliminary research on China’s political economic strategy, which is regarded as the “China factor”, in the legal system of Hong Kong, and its political, economic and legal-cultural impacts on the rule of law. Design/methodology/approach This paper argues that China exerts its influence over the legal system of Hong Kong in four domains, including ideology, political elections, legal organization and cross-border political economy. Based on media research and content analysis over published materials of various legal associations and institutions, it is found that China attempts to consolidate its control in Hong Kong by producing alternative legal ideology and discourse of the rule of law and by co-opting the legal profession under China’s united front strategy. Findings While there are liberal lawyers and legal scholars vocally engaging in defense of human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong, a network of legal profession promoting socialist and authoritarian legal values has become prominent. Hong Kong’s legal culture will continue to be shaped in accordance with authoritarian characteristics and will adversely affect developing the rule of law in this international city. Originality/value This paper contributes to the study of China’s influence over the legal profession of Hong Kong and in general Hong Kong’s jurisdiction by offering an example to the international community that contributes towards understanding how China adopts different strategies to expand political significance beyond its border.

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