The Hong Kong Bill of Rights of the Bill of Rights

The Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, referred to as the Hong Kong Human Rights Law, is Chapter 383 of the Laws of Hong Kong. Its content is to incorporate the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights applicable to Hong Kong into Hong Kong laws, abolish some outdated and harsh laws that conflict with them, and protect human rights.

The draft bill was drafted in 1990 and passed by the Legislative Council in June 1991. The Ordinance*** has 14 articles, of which Article 3 requires the repeal of all previous legal provisions that are identified as being in conflict with the Convention, while Article 4 applies to legal provisions that will take effect in the future. Take the Public Security Ordinance as an example. Because its provisions conflicted with the Convention, it was revised in 1995. Since the Human Rights Law enjoyed an overriding status in Hong Kong law at the time, the Provisional Legislative Council, composed of pro-China figures, considered it a violation of the Basic Law and removed Article 2, Section 3, Article 3 and Article 4 from the transfer of sovereignty. It was later repealed and not adopted as the law of the Special Administrative Region, which also restored the conflicting parts of the Public Security Ordinance and the Convention.

However, the Court of Final Appeal unanimously ruled in the Ng Ka Ling case that based on Articles 19 and 80 of the Basic Law, the court has the power to exercise judicial power. When exercising the power conferred by the Basic Law, the court has the power to interpret and interpret the Basic Law. Therefore, the court has the power to annul any Hong Kong law that violates the Basic Law. Article 39 of the Basic Law stipulates that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights continues to apply to Hong Kong, and the content of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance comes from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Therefore, the retroactive provisions of the Immigration Ordinance are ruled as Violation of the Basic Law. This move bypasses the decision of the Provisional Legislative Council, restores the effectiveness of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, and retains its overriding nature. Some legal scholars ridiculed the pro-China people in the Provisional Legislative Council as having no understanding of Hong Kong's legal system, believing that repealing Section 3, Section 3, Section 3, Section 3 and Section 4 of Article 2 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance would remove its overriding nature.