Restriction and Integrity of the Jurisdiction of the Special Region under the Policy of One Country and Two Systems: At the 9th Anniversary of the Returning of Hong Kong to the Mainland

Under the policy of one country and two systems, the jurisdiction of the special administrative region is characterized by restriction while the jurisdiction is not integrated. The legal nature of the jurisdiction of the special region is encompassed by governmentalization, authorization, independence, conflict, restriction, and integrity. The restriction of the jurisdiction comes from legislation, administration, exclusion of jurisdiction, interpretation of the Basic Law, emergencies, and self-constraint of the judiciary. The lack of integrity of the jurisdiction is mainly attributed to the backward institutionalization, conflict of laws and improper coordination. In practice, the restriction may be violated by “ultra vires jurisdiction” while the integrity of the jurisdiction may also be thwarted by the backward system and institutionalization. Within the statutory framework of the Basic Law, the task to prevent unauthorized jurisdiction and to ensure the integrity of the jurisdiction of the special region can only be accomplished by way of improving the existing institutions. Keeping up the pace of building the legal system of the central government, some institutional or mechanical problems that are easier and with less impact on the policy of one country and two systems should at first be solved to ensure the integrity of the jurisdiction of the special administration region. In this the policy of one country and two systems will be mostly benefited at less political and legal cost.