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21 Austl. J. Asian L. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/ajal21 and id is 1 raw text is: Australian Journal of Asian Law, 2020, Vol 21 No 1, Article 01: 1-23 Hong Kong's Made-in-China National Security Law: Upending the Legal Order for the Sake of Law and Order Brendan Clift* Hong Kong's sweeping new national security regime makes major changes to the territory with 27 years still to run on the constitutional arrangements agreed between the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China. Drafted in Beijing and promulgated in Hong Kong, the National Security Law is a vast political document widely inconsistent with, yet overruling, Hong, Kong's pre-existing constitutional. statutory ad com mon lai Broad. draconian new c offences are reated. criminalising dissent aInd placing cit il and political righlts in je>opar. Regional instilulions ar ' co-opted to serve tlhe li securiy a<<ppatls. dim inisling lhi r atlono>my,. wlile v<ast pow ers are conferedon exectiith llorilies undler mainland suploer ision. The vut aledl fircill' bleltceen Il PN' and >ng ong legal systems is blroblen lown a.s Ile transfer of ca'ses inlto matinlanld jurisdictlion is ile >possible,. wlile lhe rgion >lscous are shackled b)y ousters of interretlie ald sulper isoy jirisditlion. Th1e rle >of law is rect in la w-nd-olrder t erms to shore up tlle stlbility anld atilloriy of th1e one-pty state. Th1is article pr>'sents a detiled rev iec nd critiqle of thIe N\ nd ol contsiders ils implicationts fr Hong ong and the 'one co>untry, two systemt s' m lodel. liuling a great nation is like frying small fish. When over-stirred. they break into pieces. - L.ao T zu. Tao Te ('Ching I am altering the deal. 'ray I lon t alter it any further. - )art h \ader. Th1e Emlire Strikes Eack The new national security regime imposel upon the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (I HKS.Ali) of Ihe 'eoIle's Ie'public of ('hina ('ll(') renlers sweeing changes to the territory's legal andl Ipolitical orlers (desitI1e 27 years remaining to run on the hanlover terms agreel bet ween IHong IKong's past colonial ruler. Ihe UnitedI IKinglom. andl ils p)resent sovereign. Since 1997. the 'one country,. wo systems' molel. (describel in (deItil in the Basic I.aw of Ihe long ong Special \Iminist rat ive liegion of the P'eopIle's liepublic of (hina (Basic I.aw). has sought lo p)reserve those key features responsible for the city's distinctive character and success as an international commercial hub, including small government, a conducive business environment, liberal conditions for a flourishing civil society, an established common law legal system and a well-regarded independent judiciary. The Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region1 (NSL), drafted and legislated in Beijing then promulgated in Hong Kong in mid-2020, is a politico-legal document rooted in the PRC traditions of law and governance, widely inconsistent with, and to that extent overruling, the Basic Law and other HKSAR laws. The NSL creates broad, draconian offences of anti-state conduct, criminalises various forms of political dissent and places civil and political rights in jeopardy. It enlists HKSAR government institutions to serve the PRC security apparatus, diminishing their autonomy under the Basic Law, and confers vast new powers on the territory's executive authorities to be exercised under mainland supervision. It breaks down the vaunted 'firewall' between the HKSAR and PRC legal systems by facilitating the transfer of cases into mainland jurisdiction, while shackling the region's * Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne. The author thanks Associate Professor Amanda Whiting and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. 1 Gazetted as LN 136 of 2020: see <https://www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/pdf/20202444e/es220202444136.pdf>. The Chinese title and text are the authentic versions; the title is «*1 A lUt II4Th R1T7 itW AM *> and the text appears in the law as gazetted. The English title and text are 'for reference only'; an official English translation appears at <http://www.ecns.cn/news/politics/2020-07-01/detail-ifzxrvxc0874078.shtml>.

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