Establishing Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal

A key issue during the Handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule was establishing a Court of Final Appeal.

Prior to the handover, matters were referred to Britain’s Privy Council. But this would be no longer appropriate. In addition, China had a different legal system. How would the rule of law be preserved?

Stephen Lam is the former Chief Secretary of Hong Kong. Stephen shares what was worth fighting for at such a significant juncture and how his Christian worldview helped him negotiate this change. He was a key player in this process, and speaks to the sticking points in negotiations, to lessons he learnt through the negotiation process and how the rule of law was preserved as a core value in the new judicial system.

To this day, senior judges from Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada are invited to sit on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. This arrangement preserves strong links between Hong Kong and leading common law jurisdictions around the world.