CJR Final Report, Section 3: Procedural reform and the Basic Law

("BOR 10") are the main provisions relevant to procedural issues. By BL 35, Hong

Kong residents are guaranteed a right of access to the courts in the following terms :-

"Hong Kong residents shall have the right to confidential legal advice,

access to the courts,

choice of lawyers for timely protection of their lawful rights and interests or for

representation in the courts, and to judicial remedies.

Hong Kong residents shall have the right to institute legal proceedings in the courts against

the acts of the executive authorities and their personnel."

BL 39 relevantly provides :-

"The provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ...... as applied to

Hong Kong shall remain in force and shall be implemented through the laws of the Hong

Kong Special Administrative Region.

The rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents shall not be restricted unless as

prescribed by law ......"

As the Court of Final Appeal has held,

effects the incorporation into our domestic laws of the International Covenant on Civil

and Political Rights ("ICCPR") as applied to Hong Kong. By BOR 10, everyone is

entitled, inter alia, to "a fair and public hearing" before the court, provided for as

follows :-

"All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any

criminal charge against him, or his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be

entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal

established by law. The press and the public may be excluded from all or part of a trial for

reasons of morals, public order (ordre public) or national security in a democratic society, or

when the interest of the private lives of the parties so requires, or to the extent strictly

necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would

prejudice the interests of justice; but any judgment rendered in a criminal case or in a suit at

law shall be made public except where the interest of juvenile persons otherwise requires or

the proceedings concern matrimonial disputes or the guardianship of children."

Notes

The relevance of BL 35 to procedural rules seeking to abrogate legal professional privilege is

discussed in Section 20 below in the context of expert witnesses.

HKSAR v Ng Kung Siu (1999) 2 HKCFAR 442 at 455; Lau Cheong v HKSAR (2002) 5 HKCFAR

415.