Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal
The Development of the Law in China's Hong Kong

In the years since it was established on 1 July 1997, Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal has developed a distinctive body of new law and doctrine with the help of eminent foreign common law judges. Under the leadership of Chief Justice Andrew Li, it has also remained independent under Chinese sovereignty and become a model for other Asian final courts working to maintain the rule of law, judicial independence and professionalism in challenging political environments. In this book, leading practitioners, jurists and academics examine the Court's history, operation and jurisprudence, and provide a comparative analysis with European courts and China's other autonomous final court in Macau. It also makes use of extensive empirical data compiled from the jurisprudence to illuminate the Court's decision-making processes and identify the relative impacts of the foreign and local judges.

1. Themes and arguments Yash Ghai; Part I. Final Appeals: Setting the Context: 2. Autonomy and the Court of Final Appeal: the constitutional framework Yash Ghai; 3. Two interpreters of the basic law: the CFA and NPCSC Xiaonan Yang; 4. A worthy predecessor? The Privy Council on Appeal from Hong Kong, 1853–1997 Oliver Jones; Part II. The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal: 5. Genesis of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal Simon N. M. Young, Antonio Da Roza and Yash Ghai; 6. Final Appeals then and now Simon N. M. Young and Antonio Da Roza; 7. Jurisdiction and procedure Antonio Da Roza; 8. A practitioner's perspective Michael Thomas; 9. A human rights lawyer's perspective Mark Daly; Part III. Judges and Judging: 10. Role of the Chief Justice Simon N. M. Young, Antonio Da Roza and Yash Ghai; 11. The judges Simon N. M. Young and Antonio Da Roza; 12. Concurring and dissenting in the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Jill Cottrell and Yash Ghai; Part IV. Jurisprudence of the Court: 13. The common law Sir Anthony Mason; 14. Basic law Albert H. Y. Chen and P. Y. Lo; 15. Human rights Simon N. M. Young; 16. Administrative law Johannes Chan; 17. Criminal law Simon N. M. Young; 18. Commercial law William Waung; 19. Land law Malcolm Merry; 20. Tort law Rick Glofcheski; 21. Civil procedure Gary Meggitt; Part V. Perspectives from Beyond Hong Kong: 22. Impact of jurisprudence beyond Hong Kong P. Y. Lo; 23. Macau's Court of Final Appeal Jorge Godinho and Paulo Cardinal; 24. Foreign judges: a European perspective Josef Marko.

Simon N. M. Young is Director of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law and a professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong.
Yash Ghai is an Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, where in the past he has held the Sir Y. K. Pao Chair in Public Law.