Situating Hong Kong’s ‘Rule of Law’ Internationally

Abstract The rule of law is often cast as the primary governance ideology of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a capitalist, common law legal jurisdiction that had, at least until a recent political crackdown, strained to differentiate itself from authoritarian, socialist, mainland China over its northern border. This article explores government conceptions of the rule of law in Hong Kong, benchmarked against rule of law standards adopted by member states at the United Nations (UN). We argue that Hong Kong’s ‘official’ rule of law definition is at odds with an evolving international consensus on the rule of law within domestic legal and political systems. This has especially been the case after 2005, with the strengthening of rule of law discourse at the UN General Assembly and the rule of law’s increasing political contestation and weaponisation in Hong Kong. Compared with the contemporary consensus expressed at the UN, Hong Kong’s rule of law definition, as favoured by the territory’s executive, legislative and judicial branches, possesses a narrower ambit, but is also more finely articulated.