HK public remains positive on rule of law

The public’s views about Hong Kong’s rule of law generally remained positive over the past year — with a new survey showing similar grades being given by interviewees on 10 areas relating to the rule of law, a new survey reveals.

The survey results released on Thursday come amid concerns about the rule of law — one of the city’s core values — having been expressed by media outlets and overseas organizations in the past year.

The pollster, Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre — a local think tank focusing on social and economic policies — conducted a two-part survey in October 2017 and November 2018. It interviewed more than 1,000 people.

With a 0 to 10 rating system, higher marks went to “law and order” (6.83 in 2018/6.79 in 2017), “anti-corruption” (6.48/6.48), and “legal system facilitating economic development” (6.33/6.36).

Concerns were expressed about the government’s performance, including “open government” (5.26/5.30) and “preventing government abuse of power” (5.17/5.23), the survey said.

A total of 34.5 percent of all respondents were satisfied with the general rule of law situation in the city, declining slightly from 36.1 percent in 2017. Some 27 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with it in both rounds of the survey.

The others said they do not have a clear view on the matter.

Among the findings, those aged 55 or older, born on the Chinese mainland, working, and pro-establishment camp supporters were more satisfied with the general situation of the city. Those groups of respondents are also more inclined to reject the opinion that “breaking the law for the reason of social justice is acceptable”, according to the survey result.

Lau Ming-wai, vice-chairman of the research center, said that in conducting this survey, they aimed to construct an evidencebased analysis to evaluate citizens’ perceptions of the rule of law. This comes amid growing public concern over the rule of law in the city due to some recent controversial cases.

Lawrence Lee Kam-hung, director and convener of the survey for the research center, said the spirit of the rule of law was also evident in people’s support for the decisions of judges on significant cases. Therefore, it was unacceptable for others to attack and criticize these decisions willfully.

According to World Justice Project, an international civil society organization focusing on the rule of law, Hong Kong ranked 16th out of 113 countries and regions for its overall rule of law index in 2017-18 — the same as in 2016 and up one spot from 2015.