【Acrylic Painting by Dennis Tang】
The legal system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is based on the principles of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. The HKSAR legal system is based on the common law, supplemented by statutes.
Common law and the rules of equity are to be found primarily in the judgments of the superior courts in the HKSAR and other common law jurisdictions. In historical terms, reports of judgments handed down by judges have, since at least the 15th century, established in detail the legal principles regulating the relationship between state and citizen, and between citizen and citizen. There are now some hundreds of thousands of reported cases in common law jurisdictions which comprise the common law. The common law’s most distinguishing hallmark is reliance on a system of case precedent, not restricted to judicial decisions generated within any single jurisdiction, but case law from all jurisdictions throughout the common law world.
The HKSAR court adopted the adversarial system and jury system.
