The Allegiance Element in Official Oaths: A Historical Overview 6 City University of Hong Kong Law Review 2017-2019

6 City U. H.K. L. Rev. 29 (2017-2019)
The Allegiance Element in Official Oaths: A Historical Overview

handle is hein.journals/ciunhok6 and id is 37 raw text is:

The Allegiance Element in Official Oaths:

A Historical Overview

Philip J. Dykes, S.C.*

Now oaths are so frequent, they should be taken like pills, swallowed whole;
if you chew them, you will find them bitter; if you think what you swear, it
will hardly go down.

Table Talk, John Selden (1584-1674)

It appears also that the oath adds nothing to the obligation. For a covenant,
if lawful, binds in the sight of God without the oath as much as with it: if
unlawful, bindeth not at all, though it be confirmed with an oath.

Leviathan, Ch. XIV 'Of the First and Second Natural Laws, and of Contracts,
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

This article follows the evolution of the official oath sworn by judges, law-makers and
government officials from the days of Henry VIII to present day Hong Kong where official
oaths are required under Article 104 of the Basic Law. Originally designed as a test
of conscience for prominent Roman Catholics who were reluctant to recognise Henry
VIII as the head of a new Church of England, official oaths of office, coupled with other
requirements to test conventional religious faith, came to be used as a means of excluding
Roman Catholics and non-conformists from Parliament, local government and higher
education. In the early nineteenth century, the content of the official oath was modified
so as to enable Roman Catholics and dissenters to take up public offices and, by the end
of the century, the oath had become a simple pledge of allegiance to the Sovereign which
proved to be acceptable to nearly everyone.

Educated at Oxford University, the author was called to the Bar and practised on the Northern Circuit from
chambers in Manchester. Upon coming to Hong Kong, he became an Assistant Solicitor General with
special responsibilities for human rights and constitutional affairs. He took silk in 1997. He has served
on the Bar Council for many years and is currently that body's chairman. He wishes to acknowledge the
assistance of barristers Geoffrey Yeung, Madeline Booth and Hayley Jetson, solicitor, who helped in proof
reading, checking references and making suggestions about the form and content of the article.

(2017-2019) 6 City University ofHong Kong Law Review 29-58.

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