1999 Hong Kong: Legal Reform and Human Rights
In 1999, in partnership with the Committee on International Human Rights of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Crowley Program undertook a fact-finding mission and educational exchange in Hong Kong to examine fundamental human rights standards in light of the region's nearly two-year experience under Chinese sovereignty. The mission investigated the maintenance of the rule of law, particularly the independence of the judiciary and the integrity of judicial decisions, the progress made toward the greater democratization of the Hong Kong government, and the protection of fundamental rights including labor rights and racial and gender equality.
U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Sand joined the Crowley Program in conducting nearly one hundred interviews with judges from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, labor leaders, journalists, legislators, members of the Hong Kong Bar Association and Law Society, and academics from several universities.
The Crowley Program's Hong Kong mission report, "One Country, Two Systems? The Rule of Law, Democracy, and the Protection of Fundamental Rights in Post-Handover Hong Kong" (PDF), was published in 23 Fordham Int'l L.J. 401 (1999). A separate version was published by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York at 55 The Record 325 (2000).
For more on the current human rights situation in Hong Kong, please consult:
