Constitution has supreme authority: Law Society chief
The country’s Constitution has supreme authority over the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the head of the city’s 110-year-old professional association for solicitors said on Tuesday.
Melissa Kaye Pang, who last month became the first woman president of the Law Society of Hong Kong, said the Constitution laid down the foundation for China’s laws and was the ultimate legal basis for law enforcement.
Since Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China, the Constitution is the root of the city’s Basic Law, having supreme legal power over the SAR, Pang said at her first media briefing.
According to the Basic Law, national laws are not applied in the SAR unless written in Annex III of the Basic Law.
Pang stressed that the Constitution should not be viewed as just a national law. This is because of its supreme status and its being the source of law by which the HKSAR is established.
She also noted that when it comes to practical law application and interpretation, Hong Kong should follow the Basic Law.
Article 11 of the Basic Law says the systems and policies practiced in Hong Kong, including the social and economic systems, the system for safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms of residents, the executive, legislative and judicial systems, and the relevant policies, shall be based on provisions of the Basic Law.
Pang’s remarks follow those of Wang Zhenmin, director of the Legal Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of Central People’s Government in the HKSAR. On Saturday, Wang called for a proper understanding of the Constitution and Basic Law.
Wang said the Constitution was the legal basis for the Basic Law and it was wrong to regard the Basic Law as a “mini-constitution” independent of the nation’s Constitution.
Since Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China, the Constitution is the root of the city’s Basic Law, having supreme legal power over the SAR.”