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HONG KONG, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Hong Kong lawyers and scholars keen to safeguard the territory’s vaunted legal independence were alarmed on Tuesday by a statement from a Chinese parliamentary body questioning a Hong Kong court’s decision to overturn a ban on face masks imposed to quell months of violent protests.
WHY IS THIS SIGNIFICANT?
Amid intensifying street violence in recent weeks, the strength and importance of Hong Kong’s rule-of-law traditions have been cited by both anti-government protesters and the city’s rulers as vital to its future freedoms and stability.
WHAT DID THE STATEMENT SAY?
A statement attributed to a committee of China’s top lawmaking body questioned the power of Hong Kong’s High Court, which on Monday overturned a recent local government ban on face masks made under a little-used emergency regulations provision.The court said the ban was excessive and unconstitutional under the Basic Law – the document that outlines the extent of Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy, and has guided relations with Beijing since the 1997 handover from British colonial rule.Issued by the legislative affairs commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the statement said Hong Kong courts had no power to rule on […]
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