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The following is issued on behalf of the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education:
The Secretary for Justice, Mr Rimsky Yuen, SC, said today (April 18) that the Basic Law enshrines within a legal document the important concepts of "one country, two systems", a high degree of autonomy and "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong". It provides a solid foundation for upholding the rule of law in Hong Kong.
Mr Yuen was speaking at the Basic Law Quiz-cum-Prize Presentation Ceremony this afternoon, which was jointly organised by the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education (CPCE) and the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) and co-organised by the Department of Justice.
Mr Yuen said that the Basic Law not only retains the common law tradition of Hong Kong, but also effectively protects the different rights of Hong Kong people. Further, the Basic Law clearly specifies that the HKSAR enjoys independent criminal prosecution power, judicial power and the power of final adjudication, so that the Department of Justice can handle prosecution work in a fair, impartial and independent professional manner, while the courts of the HKSAR at all levels can exercise judicial power independently, free from any interference.
Mr Yuen pointed out that the constitutional development of the HKSAR must fully recognise that the HKSAR is a local administrative region of China, not a sovereign state. The Chief Executive (CE) shall be accountable to the Central People's Government (CPG) and the HKSAR in accordance with the Basic Law. Furthermore, Article 45 of the Basic Law contains the element of selecting the CE by universal suffrage while at the same time, clearly states that the CE selected by election must be appointed by the CPG.
"The design of the regime for selecting the CE by universal suffrage should therefore fully take into account these two principles. Otherwise, it will violate the basic concept of 'one country, two systems' and the Basic Law and even pose hidden danger to the constitution," Mr Yuen said.
The quiz competition today is one of the events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law. The quiz covers all chapters of the Basic Law and its development. The CPCE aims to enhance the general public's knowledge of the Basic Law in a more lively and interesting way by adopting the quiz format.
Divided into Primary School, Secondary School and Open Categories, interested participants first answered questions about the Basic Law online, or completed question sheets published by the organisers and distributed to schools and community organisations. Those with the highest scores in each category were selected by ballot to attend the final of the Basic Law Quiz held today. They were then selected from each category on the spot for question sessions to compete for the champion and first and second runner-up prizes.
The Chairman of CPCE, Ms Melissa Pang, said that last year the Basic Law Promotion Working Group of the CPCE organised the Basic Law Quiz for the first time and the competition attracted an enthusiastic response. As this year marks the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law, the Working Group organised the competition for the second time. Ms Pang said she was pleased to learn that over 12 000 participants took part in the Quiz Competition, which was higher than that of last year.
She said the CPCE would continue to work together with HAB to organise activities to promote the core civic values of respect and inclusiveness, responsibility and love, as well as the uphold of the spirit of the rule of the law, including the promotion of the Basic Law.
To tie in with the quiz competition, two seminars were held in January and February this year to introduce to secondary school teachers and students the development and practice of the Basic Law and how the Basic Law and the CPG relate to Hong Kong.
Ends/Saturday, April 18, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:14
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