The New Electoral System of the HKSAR: Constitutional, Institutional and International Perspectives
On 11 March 2021, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th National People Congress (NPC) passed the Decision on Improving the Electoral System of the HKSAR and authorized the Standing Committee (NPCSC) to amend the Annex I and Annex II to the Basic Law, which stipulates Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive and Method for the Formation of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR and its Voting Procedures respectively. The Legislative Council later adopted Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendment) Ordinance to respond to the NPCSC’s call for reform. This has given rise to debate about its impact on the political and constitutional development of the HKSAR in the immediate future.
To discuss these issues, on 24 June 2022, the Public Law and Human Rights Forum (CPLR) of the School of Law of City University of Hong Kong and the Project of the Study of the Implementation of the Hong Kong Basic Law co-organised a symposium on the “New Electoral System of the HKSAR: Constitutional, Institutional and International Perspectives” in hybrid format. 12 distinguished academics and former government officials from the Mainland China and Hong Kong were invited to share their professional observations, academic views and findings on this topic.
Professor WANG Jiangyu, Professor CHEUNG Bing Leung Anthony,
Professor ZHU Guobin, Professor LO Shiu Hing Sonny, Professor HAN Dayuan
Prof. CHEUNG Bing Leung Anthony, GBS, JP (Research Chair of Professor of Public Administration at the Education University of Hong Kong; Adjunct Professor at the Division of Public Policy of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) and Prof. HAN Dayuan (Renmin University of China; Member of the Committee for the Basic Law of the HKSAR under the NPCSC) gave the opening remarks. They both indicated the importance of having platforms for academics to exchange ideas and look forward to examining the issues concerned with the panellists. The moderator, Prof. ZHU Guobin (Director of CPLR, School of Law, City University of Hong Kong) welcomed all the participants and explained the background of the symposium.
The symposium has 12 speakers and consists of three panels. These 12 speakers, including: Prof. Cheung; Prof. CHENG Jie (Peter A. Allard School of Law, the University of British Columbia); Prof. LO Shiu Hing Sonny (Deputy Director (Arts and Sciences) HKU SPACE); Prof. YE Haibo (Deputy Dean, School of Law, Shenzhen University); Prof. Han; Prof. Zhu; Prof. ZOU Pingxue (Director of the Shenzhen University Centre for Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions). Prof. YANG Xiaonan (School of Law, Dailian Maritime University); Prof. HE Junzhi (School of Government, Sun Yat-Sen University); Prof. WANG Jiangyu (Director of CCCL, School of Law, City University of Hong Kong); Prof. SUN Yang (School of History, Nanjing University) and Dr. ZHANG Xiaoshan (Lecturer at School of Law, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies) took turn to present their opinion and findings on the three sub-themes.
Three distinguished scholars were invited to moderate the three sessions. The first session, chaired by Prof. QIN Qianhong (School of Law, Wuhan University) explored the origin and development of the new electoral system. Prof. CHEN Xinxin (Director of the Center for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Laws Studies of CASS Law Institute) chaired the second session which examine implementation of the new electoral system and the institutional changes therefore bought about. The last panel focused on the prospects for the new electoral system, chaired by Prof. HUANG Mingtao (School of Law, Wuhan University). There were Q&A sessions at the end of each panel’s presentations. All parties actively posed acute questions for further discussion.
The symposium was ended with the closing remarks of Prof. Zhu and Prof. Ye. They thanked all speakers and participants for taking part in this symposium and hope the inspiring ideas gathered can be further disseminated through publishing a monograph on this theme.
The symposium was funded by “The Project of the Study of the Implementation of the Hong Kong Basic Law” research project, and was supported by the Association of Chinese Law (HK).
2021年3月11日，十三屆全國人民代表大會第四次會議通過《全國人民代表大會關於完善香港特別行政區選舉制度的決定》，並授權常委會修改《基本法》附件一和附件二。附件一丶二分別規定了香港特別行政區行政長官的產生辦法和立法會的產生辦法及其表決程序。響應全國人大常委會的號召，立法會其後通過了《完善選舉制度（綜合修訂）條例》。這引發了新選舉制度對香港特別行政區政治和政制發展將會有何種影響的熱烈討論。
為探討這些問題， 香港城市大學法學院公法與人權論壇（CPLR）與香港基本法實施研究項目於2022年6月24日以混合形式合辦「 香港新選舉制度：憲制、制度和國際的視角 」研討會。 12位來自中國內地和香港的傑出學者及前政府官員受邀參加此研討會，分享他們對這個專題的專業觀察、學術觀點和研究發現。
張炳良教授，GBS，JP (香港教育大學研究講座教授、香港科技大學公共政策學部客座教授) 與韓大元教授(中國人民大學、全國人大常委會香港基本法委員會委員)致開幕辭。他們都認為設置平台予不同學者交流思想極具重要性，並表示期待今天能與兩地與會者就香港新選舉制度議題展開討論。主持人朱國斌教授（香港城市大學法律學院公法與人權論壇主任 ）歡迎各位參會者，並介紹了是次研討會的背景。
研討會由三個環節組成，共有12 位發言人，分別是: 張炳良教授; 程潔教授(加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞大學法學院副教授); 盧兆興教授(香港大學專業進修學院常務副院長（文學及科學）); 葉海波教授(深圳大學法學院副院長); 韓大元教授; 朱國斌教授; 鄒平學教授(深圳大學港澳基本法研究中心主任). 楊曉楠教授(大連海事大學法學院教授); 何俊志教授 (中山大學政治與公共事務管理學院政治科學系教授); 王江雨教授 (香港城市大學法律學院中國法與比較法研究中心主任); 孫揚教授(南京大學歷史學院副教授) 和章小杉博士(廣東外語外貿大學法學院講師) 輪流發表他們對三個主題環節的意見和研究發現。
三位傑出學者受邀主持本次會議的三個環節。第一節由武漢大學法學院的秦前紅教授主持，主要探討新選舉制度的由來和演進。陳欣新教授（中國社會科學院台灣香港澳門法研究中心主任）主持了第二個環節，探討了新選舉制度的實施及其帶来的制度性變化。最後一節則聚焦於新選舉制度的展望，由黃明濤教授（武漢大學法學院）主持。每個環節結束前都有問答環節，參會人士都積極提出問題，進一步與講者討論相關議題。
研討會在朱教授和葉教授的閉幕詞中落下帷幕。他們感謝所有講者和與會者參加本次研討會，並希望通過出版以香港新選舉制度為主題的書，進一步傳播各講者在此會發表的寶貴見解。
本次研討會由「香港基本法實施研究項目」 資助，並得到中國法學會（香港）的支持。
