ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RIGHTS
Chapter III of the Basic Law contains provisions that guarantee the fundamental rights of the residents of Hong Kong. They include various civil and political rights as well as, to a more limited extent, economic and social rights. Article 39 of the Basic Law states that provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) as applied to Hong Kong shall be in force and be implemented through the laws of Hong Kong.
With regard to civil and political rights, Hong Kong people enjoy the protection of the Basic Law, the ICCPR, and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap.383) which incorporates the ICCPR into the domestic legal system. For economic and social rights, however, there is no equivalent wholesale incorporation of the ICESCR via a single domestic legal instrument. Instead, these rights are protected under the Basic Law provisions where such rights are constitutionally guaranteed, and through various existing legislation, such as the Housing Ordinance (Cap.283).
PUBLICATIONS & SUBMISSIONS
Journal Articles
All for Some' or 'Some for All'? Assessing the Realisation of the Right to Social Welfare in the Retirement Protection Reform in Hong Kong - By Karen Kong
(2016) 46 Hong Kong Law Journal 779-791
Kong Yunming v Director of Social Welfare: Implications for Law and Policy on Social Welfare - By Karen Kong
(2014) 44 Hong Kong Law Journal 67-81
Adjudicating Social Welfare Rights in Hong Kong* - By Karen Kong
(2012) 10 International Journal of Constitutional Law 588-599
The Right to Food For All: A Right-based Approach to Hunger and Social Inequality - By Karen Kong
(2009) 32 Suffolk Transnational Law Review 525-566
Public Interest Litigation in Hong Kong: A New Hope for Social Transformation? - By Karen Kong
(2009) 28 Civil Justice Quarterly 327-343
Book Chapters
"Social Justice and Social Rights in Hong Kong: Judicial Review Developments and Proposal for Legislative Change" in Surya Deva (ed.), Socio-Economic Rights in Emerging Free Markets: Comparative Insights from India and China (London: Routledge, 2015) - By Karen Kong
"The Right to Social Welfare” in Johannes Chan SC (Hons) & C.L. Lim (eds.), Law of the Hong Kong Constitution (Sweet & Maxwell, 2011) - By Karen Kong
Newspaper Articles
Government has a legal obligation to meet HK people's right to housing
South China Morning Post, Letter to the Editor, 23 June 2011
Covenant says that poor must be given help
South China Morning Post, Letter to the Editor, 14 March 2011
不能忽視的另一種人權 (A kind of Human Rights that Should Not be Neglected)
明報 (Ming Pao Daily), 22 March 2010
PAST & UPCOMING EVENTS
Conferences and Seminars
2019
Lost in Transformation: Social Rights Under a Contradictory Constitution (9 April)
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
Seafood Fraud: Hong Kong as a Role Model for Safe Food (10 October)
2008-2012
Equal Access and the Right to Education: Where Medium is the Means and the Ends (9 December 2011)
Law, Politics and the Allocation of Scarce Health Care Resources (5 October 2010)
Poverty and Rights (27 February 2009)
Rights Talk Series
The Constitution of Economic Liberty in Hong Kong, 29 September 2014
Lectures & Trainings
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Coming soon...
FACULTY EXPERTISE
