Legal experts ponder Hong Kong 25 years after promulgation of Basic Law
Some 25 years after the Basic Law was endorsed, three lawyers who helped to shape it reflect on whether their hopes and fears were realised
They started on the document with the best of intentions. Indeed, shortly after the signing of a draft of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong's future in September 1984, Martin Lee Chu-ming reached a gentleman's agreement with fellow barristers Andrew Li Kwok-nang and Denis Chang Khen-lee.
"We often went to the mainland at that time to give lectures on the rule of law. I told them whoever was invited to join the Basic Law Drafting Committee should not decline the offer. We should relay the actual situation in Hong Kong to Beijing and highlight the importance of the rule of law," Lee said.
Only Lee was eventually invited the following year to serve on the Drafting Committee, while Chang sat on the executive committee of the Basic Law Consultative Committee, alongside current Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
A total of 59 members served on the drafting body, 23 of them from Hong Kong. The 180-strong Consultative Committee was responsible for gathering views from Hongkongers on the future mini-constitution.
Li became the first post-handover chief justice in 1997 and served as the city's top judge until 2010. Lee is the city's most experienced senior counsel on the Bar Association list, followed by Chang.