Assignment

POLS A122F
SOCIAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONS: POLITICAL SCIENCE

9 December 2015

Question 1:

“The Chief Executive of Hong Kong has a special legal position which overrides administrative, legislative and judicial organs and that the separation of powers is not suitable for Hong Kong.” With reference to the constitutional arrangement of Hong Kong, to what extent is this statement valid?

In the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law on September 12, the director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaoming gave a speech entitled “A Correct Understanding of the Characteristics of the Political System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”. He said that the separation of power will not implement in Hong Kong. He also stated that the Chief Executive has “a special legal position” that he can overrides executive, legislative and judicial organs (Zeng, 2015). His speaking was criticized by the public and caused much controversy. In my opinions, the view of Zhang Xiaoming is valid in a small extent according to the constitutional arrangement in Hong Kong. It means that the Chief Executive of Hong Kong does not necessarily have an overriding power over administrative, legislative and judicial organs and that the separation of powers may suit in Hong Kong.

First of all, we need to know what separation of powers and the functions of executive, legislative and judicial organs are. The separation of powers means that all the powers that are entrusted to the government are divided into three main departments, the executive, legislative and judicial. The officials of each branch are chosen by different procedures and serve different terms of office. By the checks and balances system, each branch can monitor or block action of the other branches. The separation of powers can ensure that no one branch