Hong Kong, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, covers a tiny area, but by 1998, it had an estimated population of 6.7 million. It was a British colony from 1842 to 1997, governed, assisted by a chief-secretary, financial secretary, attorney general, and a group of secretaries (similar to ministers). The secretaries were senior civil servants in charge of various functions, such as economy, education, transport, security, and health and social welfare. There were two advisory bodies: the executive and legislative councils, comprising official and appointed unofficial members for the majority of the time. The executive council functioned as the cabinet of the governor. The legislative council was similar to a parliament. Apart from lawmaking, it had the powers to scrutinize public income and expenditure, and to monitor the work of the government. The judiciary, led by the chief justice, was independent of the central administration and legislature. The criminal law of Hong Kong has a colonial origin, following the British legal system, and thus has no comprehensive codified criminal law. The principal sources of law are equity, common law, and criminal statutes. When the last two come into conflict, statutory law defines the punishment but the elements of crimes, such as murder and manslaughter, are established by the common law (Bindzus, 1991). A few conditions of Chinese customary law also apply in Hong Kong regarding the use of land, but they are not related to criminal law. Some international treaties and agreements have impact on the development of the common law, but they do not become part of Hong Kong law unless they are incorporated by legislation. However, there are some changes that deserve particular attention. In order to be in line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Probably with the negative memory of the June 4th Tiananmen Incident in B...
