Adopted at the 23rd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the
Eighth National People's Congress on December 30, 1996 and
promulgated by Order No.80 of the President of the People's
Republic of China on December 30, 1996
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted in accordance with the
Constitution and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region to ensure the lawful performance of functions
and responsibilities by the military forces stationed by the
Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region for defence, and to maintain the sovereignty, unity and
territorial integrity of the State and the security of Hong
Kong.
Article 2 The military forces stationed by the Central People's
Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for
defence shall be composed of forces from the Army, the Navy and the
Air Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and be
designated as the Hong Kong Garrison of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army (hereinafter referred to as the Hong Kong
Garrison).
Article 3 The Hong Kong Garrison shall be subject to the
direction of the Central Military Commission of the People's
Republic of China. The number of its members shall be determined
according to the need for the defence of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region.
The Hong Kong Garrison shall practise a system of rotation of
its members.
Article 4 Expenditure for the Hong Kong Garrison shall be borne
by the Central People's Government.
Chapter II Functions and Responsibilities of the Hong
Kong Garrison
Article 5 The Hong Kong Garrison shall perform the following
defence functions and responsibilities:
(1) preparing against and resisting aggression, and safeguarding
the security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
(2) carrying out defence duties;
(3) administering military facilities; and
(4) handling foreign-related military affairs.
Article 6 In the event that the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress decides to declare a state of war or, by
reason of turmoil within the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region which endangers national unity or security and is beyond the
control of the Government of the Region, decides that the Region is
in a state of emergency, the Hong Kong Garrison shall perform its
duties in accordance whith the provisions of the national laws that
the Central People's Government decides to apply in the Region.
Article 7 No weapon and equipment, such as aircraft and vessels,
and no material of the Hong Kong Garrison, and no member or vehicle
of the Garrison that bears a certificate or a document of
certification issued by the Hong Kong Garrison showing that the
bearer is on official duty, shall be inspected, searched, seized or
detained by any law-enforcing officer of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region.
The Hong Kong Garrison and its members shall also enjoy other
rights and immunities prescribed by the laws in force in the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region.
Article 8 Members of the Hong Kong Garrison may, in accordance
with the provisions of the laws in force in the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, take measures to stop any act which
obstructs their performance of official duties.
Chapter III Relationship Between the Hong Kong Garrison
and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region
Article 9 The Hong Kong Garrison shall not interfere in the
local affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Article 10 The Government of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region shall support the Hong Kong Garrison in its
performance of defence functions and responsibilities and guarantee
the lawful rights and interests of the Hong Kong Garrison and its
members.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall consult the
Hong Kong Garrison when formulating any policy or drafting any
legislation which concerns the Hong Kong Garrison.
Article 11 The Hong Kong Garrison shall notify in advance the
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of any
military activities it is to conduct such as training exercises and
manoeuvres which may affect the public interests of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region.
Article 12 The Hong Kong Garrison and the Government of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region shall jointly protect the
military facilities within the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region.
The Hong Kong Garrison shall delimit military restricted zones
in conjunction with the Government of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region. The locations and boundaries of the military
restricted zones shall be declared by the Government of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region.
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
shall assist the Hong Kong Garrison in maintaining the security of
the military restricted zones.
Without permission of the Commander of the Hong Kong Garrison or
other officers as he may authorize to give such permission, no
person, vehicle, vessel or aircraft other than those of the Hong
Kong Garrison shall enter the military restricted zones. Guards of
the military restricted zones shall have the right to stop
according to law any unauthorized entry into any military
restricted zone or any act which damages or endangers any military
facilities.
The Hong Kong Garrison shall protect the natural resources,
historical relics and monuments, and other non-military rights and
interests within the military restricted zones in accordance with
the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Article 13 Any land used by the Hong Kong Garrison for military
purposes, when approved by the Central People's Government to be no
longer needed for defence purposes, shall be turned over without
compensation to the Government of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region for disposal.
If the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
needs for public use any part of the land used for military
purposes by the Hong Kong Garrison, it shall seek approval of the
Central People's Government; where approval is obtained, the
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall
make reprovision of land and military facilities for the Hong Kong
Garrison at such sites as agreed to by the Central People's
Government, and shall bear all the expenses and costs entailed.
Article 14 Pursuant to the provisions of the Basic Law of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Government of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region may, when necessary, ask the
Central People's Government for assistance from the Hong Kong
Garrison in the maintenance of public order or in disaster
relief.
Where the request of the Government of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region is approved by the Central People's
Government, the Hong Kong Garrison shall call out troops in
accordance with the order of the Central Military Commission to
carry out tasks of assistance in the maintenance of public order or
in disaster relief, and upon completion of the tasks, the troops
shall return to their barracks immediately.
The troops of the Hong Kong Garrison who are called out to
assist in the maintenance of public order or in disaster relief
shall, under the arrangement of the Government of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region, be commanded by the Commander of the
Hong Kong Garrison or the officer authorized by him.
Members of the Hong Kong Garison may exercise the powers
conferred by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region in the course of rendering assistance in the maintenance of
public order or in disaster relief.
Article 15 The Hong Kong Garrison and the Governemnt of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region shall establish necessary
liaison to deal with matters concerning the Hong Kong Garrison
through consultation.
Chapter IV Obligations of the Discipline for Members of
the Hong Kong
Article 16 Members of the Hong Kong Garrison shallfulfill the
following obligations:
(1) to be loyal to their motherland, perform their functions and
responsibilities, maintain the security, honour and interests of
their motherland, and safeguard the security of Hong Kong;
(2) to abide by national laws and the laws of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region, and observe military discipline;
(3) to respect the organs of political power, the social system
and the ways of life of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region;
(4) to cherish the public property of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region and the private property of Hong Kong
residents and other persons; and
(5) to observe public ethics and cultivate civility and
courtesy.
Article 17 Members of the Hong Kong Garrison shall not join any
political, religious or social organization in Hong Kong.
Article 18 The Hong Kong Garrison or its members shall not
engage in any form of profit-making business activities. Members of
the Hong Kong Garrison shall not engage in any other activity
incompatible with their functions and responsibilities as
servicemen.
Article 19 Any member of the Hong Kong Garrison who contravenes
any national law or law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region shall be investigated for legal responsibility according to
law.
Any member of the Hong Kong Garrison who breaches military
discipline shall be subject to disciplinary sanction.
Chapter V Judicial Jurisdiction over Members of the Hong
Kong Garrison
Article 20 Criminal offences committed by members of the Hong
Kong Garrison shall be under the jurisdiction of the military
judicial organs; but offences which are committed by members of the
Hong Kong Garrison when not performing their official duties and in
such violation of the personal right or property right of Hong Kong
residents or other persons who are not of the Hong Kong Garrison or
otherwise in such contravention of the laws of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region as to constitute crimes, shall be
subject to the jurisdiction of the courts and the relevant
law-enforcing organs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region.
The military judicial organ and the court or the relevant
law-enforcing organ of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
may transfer to the other party the criminal cases of members of
the Hong Kong Garrison under their respective jurisdiction if they
consider it to be more appropriate for the other party to exercise
jurisdiction, provided that consensus is reached through
consultation.
Hong Kong residents or other persons not of the Hong Kong
Garrison involved as defendants in the criminal cases of members of
the Hong Kong Garrison under the jurisdiction of the military
judicial organs shall be tried by the courts of the Hong Kong
Special Administrtive Region.
Article 21 Any person who is lawfully arrested as a suspected
offender by law-enforcing officers of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, once confirmed upon investigation to be a
member of the Hong Kong Garrison, shall be handed over to the Hong
Kong Garrison for custody. Jurisdiction over the case involving the
person in custody shall be determined in accordance with the
provisions in Article 20 of this Law.
Article 22 Any member of the Hong Kong Garrison sentenced by a
court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to criminal
punishment which deprives him of or restricts his personal freedom
shall be delivered for sentence enforcement according to the
provisions of the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region, except for the case in which the place of sentence
enforcement is otherwise determined by a relevant law- enforcing
organ of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the
military judicial organ through consultation.
Article 23 Where any member of the Hong Kong Garrison, in
contravention of the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region, infringes the civil rights of any Hong Kong resident or
other person not of the Hong Kong Garrison, the parties concerned
may seek settlement through consultation or mediation; if they are
unwilling or fail to reach settlement through consultation or
mediation, the infringed party may bring an action in the court.
Cases of tort arising from acts committed by members of the Hong
Kong Garrison when not performing their official duties shall be
subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region; cases of tort arising from acts committed by
members of the Hong Kong Garrison when performing their official
duties shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme People's
Court of the People's Republic of China, and compensation for any
loss or injury incurred by acts of tort shall be governed by the
laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Article 24 Where any contractual dispute arises within the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region between any organ or unit of the
Hong Kong Garrison and any Hong Kong resident or other person not
of the Hong Kong Garrison, the parties concerned may settle their
dispute through consultation or mediation; if the parties are
unwilling or fail to reach settlement through consultation or
mediation, they may submit the dispute to the arbitration agency
for arbitration in accordance with the arbitration clause contained
in the contract or with a written arbitration agreement reached by
the parties afterwards. If no arbitration clause is contained in
the contract and no written arbitration agreement is reached
afterwards, the parties may institute proceedings in a court of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, except that the parties
agree otherwise as to the court for instituting proceedings.
Article 25 Certificates issued by the Hong Kong Garrison
regarding facts such as identity of membership of the Hong Kong
Garrison and acts in performance of official duties shall be valid
evidence in proceedings in the courts of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, unless the contrary is proved.
Article 26 Acts of State of the Hong Kong Garrison such as
defence affairs shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of the
courts of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Article 27 Organs or units of the Hong Kong Garrison shall
comply with the judgments or orders issued by the courts of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region concerning arrangement of
their property; but the said courts shall not enforce judgments or
orders on any weapon, equipment, material or other property of the
Hong Kong Garrison.
Article 28 The military judicial organs may, through
consultation, maintain juridical relations with the courts and the
relevant law- enforcing organs of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, and they may render assistance to each
other.
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Article 29 The power of interpretation of this Law shall be
vested in the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress.
Article 30 This Law shall come into force a of July 1, 1997.
(China.org.cn)