Universal Suffrage – International Standard for Asia’s World City
Organizer
The Professional Commons
Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong
JUSTICE, the Hong Kong Section of the International Commission of Jurists
Universal Suffrage – International Standard for Asia’s World City
International Legal Forum on Constitutional Reform for Hong Kong
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The University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law, together with The Professional Commons and JUSTICE, the Hong Kong Section of the International Commission of Jurists, are jointly organising an International Legal Forum to consider the applicable international standards concerning Constitutional Reform in Hong Kong and current and future compliance with them. Although the Hong Kong Government’s constitutional reform consultation has come to an end, we believe there is a need to continue to address these issues in the light of the obligations of the Central Government and the HKSAR Government under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We have invited a panel of international legal experts to hear submissions from interested parties in Hong Kong and opine on these issues so as to ensure that any proposed models going forward would conform to international standards.
The Panel will be chaired by Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah, former Chief Justice of Mauritius and a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee which monitors compliance with the ICCPR. Mr. Lallah is a long serving member of the UNHRC since 1977 and was Chairman from 1989 to 1991. The Panel will receive submissions on the following questions:
- Is Hong Kong’s current electoral system in compliance with the international standards of “universal and equal suffrage” as laid down in Article 25(b) of the ICCPR and incorporated into the Basic Law
- If not, how should Hong Kong’s electoral systems and, in particular, Functional Constituencies, be made to comply with international standards?
- What systems of nomination for election for the office of Chief Executive would be compatible with international standards?