Justice minister Teresa Cheng wades into ‘separation of powers’ debate, saying it ‘has no place’ in Hong Kong

In a commentary published in the Post, Cheng argues the discussion surrounding the term betrays a ‘pathetic’ lack of understanding of its implications

The commentary hits back at widespread insistence from the legal community that the concept is indeed practised in Hong Kong

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Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng is interviewed by the Post in June. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 7:00am, 9 Sep 2020Updated: 12:14pm, 9 Sep 2020

Hong Kong’s justice minister has argued that it is an “oversimplification” to suggest that the concept of “separation of powers” is a given, as the city’s executive-led political system has been repeatedly affirmed by the courts.

Weighing in on the debate around the sensitive term in a commentary published in the Post on Wednesday, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah listed the various interpretations of “separation of powers” in other governmental models, before arriving at the point that “the political structure of a state is entirely a matter within the sovereign right of that state”, and that the state in question, in Hong Kong’s case, was China.

“The doctrine of separation of powers is commonly used in the context of political structures of sovereign states,” she wrote. “This doctrine has no place in the political structure of HKSAR.”

Cheng’s article came a day after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the debate that had raged around the term had clarified the “truth” about the city’s constitutional order, even as she accused critics of using it to “maliciously stir social conflict”.

The controversy over the separation of powers, or the lack thereof, erupted last month after the phrase was controversially removed from liberal studies textbooks during screening by the Education Bureau. Coming on the heels of the passage of Hong Kong’s Beijing-drafted national security law, the removal of the phrase – along with other politically sensitive items – prompted accusations of political censorship.

Justice minister Teresa Cheng wades into ‘separation of powers’ debate, saying it ‘has no place’ in Hong Kong

In a commentary published in the Post, Cheng argues the discussion surrounding the term betrays a ‘pathetic’ lack of understanding of its implications The commentary hits back at widespread insistence from the legal community that the concept is indeed practised in Hong Kong

In a commentary published in the Post, Cheng argues the discussion surrounding the term betrays a ‘pathetic’ lack of understanding of its implications

The commentary hits back at widespread insistence from the legal community that the concept is indeed practised in Hong Kong