A. INTRODUCTION

On 1 July 1997 the People’s Republic of China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong pursuant to the Joint Declaration signed with the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in December 1984; and Hong Kong is now formally known as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China. As a special administrative region Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the principle of “one country, two systems”, and this is enshrined in the Basic Law of the HKSAR adopted on 4 April 1990 by the People’s Republic of China, and which operates as a “mini-Constitution” for Hong Kong since its entry into force in Hong Kong on 1 July 1997.