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1 1 (November 15, 2016)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthmaoce0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CRS INSIGHT China and the Hong Kong High Court Issue Decisions on Legislative Council Controversy (Update) November 15, 2016 (IN10605) Related Author * Michael F Martin Michael F. Martin, Specialist in Asian Affairs (mfmartinacrs locgov, 7-2199) On November 7, 2016, China's National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) issued a decision concerning the oaths that Hong Kong officials, including legislators, must take before assuming office. Eight days later, HIng Kona's High Court detrmined that two pro-democracy members-elect of Hong Kong's Legislative Council (Legco), Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching, had declined to take the required oath on October 12, 2016, and are therefore disqualified from assuming the office of a member of the Legco. The NPCSC and High Court decisions may lead to efforts to invalidate the oaths taken by 13 other Legco members. With China having guaranteed Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the decisions raise questions about the autonomy of Hong Kong's judicial system and the future of democracy in Hong Kong. This growing controversy may be of interest to Congress as the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 USC 66, P1. 1.2-383) states that it is U.S. policy to support democratization in Hong Kong and the preservation of its high degree of autonomy. Specifics of the NPCSC's Decision The NPCSC's decision, purportedly interpreting Article 104 of the Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (Basic Law), mandates that all Hong Kong public officials who are required to take an oath of office must accurately, completely and solemnly read out the oath prescribed by law. Failure to do so, the NPCSC states, shall be treated as declining to take the oath. According to the decision, no arrangement shall be made for retaking the oath. The decision concludes with the statement, An oath taker who makes a false oath, or, who, after taking the oath, engages in conduct in breach of the oath, shall bear legal responsibility in accordance with the law. The High Court Decision The High Court's ruling did not rely on the NPCSC's decision, focusing instead on the events of October 12, 2016, and the requirements of Hong Kong's Oaths and Declarations Ordinance (ODO). Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung ruled that

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