The Basic Law has withstood many challenges over the past
decade, but its role in maintaining stability in Hong Kong has
remained unchanged, members of the Hong Kong Basic Law Committee
and legal experts said.
However, Hongkongers must still develop a better understanding
of the mini-constitution, which guarantees them a high degree of
autonomy from the central government.
The mini-charter en-countered some difficulties when the
National People's Congress promulgated it in 1990. Elsie Leung, the
former secretary for justice and deputy director of the Hong Kong
Basic Law Committee, said few Hong Kong people understood the Basic
Law initially, leading to several controversies. The National
People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) eventually had to
issue three interpretations to clarify the most contentious
provisions.
The first came in 1999, when the SAR's government, acting
through the State Council, sought an interpretation of the
provisions concerning the right of abode in the SAR after a ruling
by the Court of Final Appeal had threatened to trigger a flood of
1.6 million mainland-born children with Hong Kong parents into the
SAR, which would have posed a heavy burden on the city.
Then, in 2004, the NPCSC ruled that neither the 2007 chief
executive (CE) election nor the 2008 legislative election would
feature universal suffrage, emphasizing that changes to the
electoral system would be made in a gradual and orderly manner as
stipulated in the Basic Law.
For its part, the NPCSC helps steer the SAR's political system,
said Hong Kong Basic Law Committee member Albert Chen.
"The high degree of autonomy in the SAR was based on the
existing political system. However, the central government has the
right to say whether the system is to be changed," he said.
The third interpretation came at the request of the SAR
government in response to a controversy over the term of office of
the new CE after the existing one resigned. The NPCSC ruled that
should the office of CE become vacant, the next CE should serve out
the remainder of his predecessor's five-year tenure.
The interpretation acts should not be viewed as the central
government's interference in Hong Kong's internal affairs, Chen
said.
"The NPCSC is highly self-restrained. It only exercises its
power to interpret in very extreme conditions," Chen said.
Indeed, the NPCSC's timely moves have cleared up several cases
of uncertainty, allowing Hong Kong's society and government to
continue as normal.
"The society of Hong Kong remains stable. The economy, which was
facing hardship at first, has recovered smoothly. The legal system
and the independence of the judiciary are respected," said
Chen.
While the final power to interpret the Basic Law lies with the
NPCSC, the Court of Final Appeal has issued several judicial
reviews over the years that have touched on the mini-constitution.
These rulings have helped shed more light on the meaning of certain
provisions of the Basic Law as well as their relationship to
locally enacted laws.
(China Daily June 27, 2007)