Henry Litton

Opinion | For Hong Kong’s judiciary, whether English will remain an official language beyond 2047 is the question

Without official recognition of English, how can the common law system work? And what of ‘one country, two systems’? These are existential questions that should engage every lawyer, magistrate and judge

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Henry Litton

Published: 6:45am, 16 Oct 2021

“In the beginning was the Word”, goes the first sentence in Saint John’s gospel. Words are powerful. They change lives. In communities governed by the rule of law, it is through the words of magistrates and judges that the fabric of society is maintained.

These tribunals have no executive power. It is by words alone that issues are determined, and the reasons behind them expressed. But words are also limited by the language in which they are expressed. A court judgment in English is meaningless to those unfamiliar with the language.

Common law is judge-made law and is inextricably linked to the English language. Its origins go back to King John’s Magna Carta in 1215. It is built upon precedents, which are invariably expressed in English.

In Asia, the common law prevails in much of the former British Empire: Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei – and Hong Kong. Article 8 of the Basic Law lays down the common law as the governing legal system. Article 9 makes English an official language. And Article 92 says that judges may be recruited from other common law jurisdictions: by implication, where English is the dominant language.

Many outside Hong Kong have expressed surprise that foreign judges, from Britain, Australia and elsewhere, should be laying down the law in a Chinese region. They fail to understand the significance of Beijing’s commitment to “one country, two systems” – a policy laid down long before any Sino-British discussions concerning Hong Kong’s future. It is set for the long term.

04:35

What does ‘one country, two systems’ mean?

In Beijing’s forward planning, Hong Kong has a pivotal role not only as a global financial centre but also as part of the Qianhai innovation and technological hub in southern China. The use of English would seem a necessary ingredient.