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Full-Text Articles in Law
Constitutional Adjudication In Post-1997 Hong Kong, Albert H.Y. Chen
Constitutional Adjudication In Post-1997 Hong Kong, Albert H.Y. Chen
Washington International Law Journal
In July 1997, the British colony of Hong Kong was returned to the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). It became a Special Administrative Region (“SAR”) of the PRC in accordance with the concept of “one country, two systems” embodied by the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984. The constitutional instrument of Hong Kong’s new legal and political system is the Basic Law of the SAR of Hong Kong, enacted by the National People’s Congress of the PRC and effective as of July 1997. Under colonial rule, Hong Kong inherited a British-style legal system. English common law formed the foundation, and the …
The President Refuses To Cohabit: Semi-Presidentialism In Taiwan, Thomas Weishing Huang
The President Refuses To Cohabit: Semi-Presidentialism In Taiwan, Thomas Weishing Huang
Washington International Law Journal
French constitutional practices suggest that cohabitation between the president and the prime minister, where the latter is the leader of the opposition majority in parliament, creates a workable governmental relationship. Taiwan’s constitutional practice indicates, however, that a minority government, although it does not command the majority in parliament, may nevertheless survive if the system of semipresidentialism is flawed. Instead of having the flexibility to change the government whenever it loses the confidence of parliament, minority governments under semipresidentialism in Taiwan exhibit all the rigidity created by gridlock between the executive and the legislature. This gridlock is caused by fixed terms …
Restoration Constitutionalism In The South Pacific, Venkat Iyer
Restoration Constitutionalism In The South Pacific, Venkat Iyer
Washington International Law Journal
The dilemmas confronting societies which move from a period of authoritarian rule to liberal democracy have increasingly engaged the attention of academic experts and policy-makers alike. One issue which has received comparatively less notice, however, is the phenomenon of “restoration constitutionalism,” i.e. the process by which the transitional society is sought to be returned to the constitutional order that predated the authoritarian rule. Recent events in Fiji offer a good example of how this process works in practice. This article looks at the relationship between constitutionalism and transitional regimes, and argues that, where the “rupture” in a constitutional order is …