This course deals with the main constitutional rules and principles in Hong Kong. By incorporating a more extended range of mandatory readings than undergraduate courses of similar length and the opportunity for a more research-focused assessment regime, this course is designed specifically for students at the postgraduate level who have not previously studied the law relating to Hong Kong’s constitutional arrangements. In Hong Kong, the Basic Law performs the function of a local constitution. Throughout the course students will be expected to evaluate and discuss the part played by the Basic Law in (i) maintaining order and stability while accommodating political, economic and social change; and (ii) mediating the values of Hong Kong’s 150-year heritage as a British Crown Colony with its new status as a Special Administrative Region of the PRC enjoying ‘a high degree of autonomy’. Students will be introduced to the methods and techniques of public law while developing their problem-solving, research, and writing skills to a level appropriate for postgraduate studies. Topics covered include: constitutions and constitutionalism; colonial administration; Sino-British Joint Declaration; the Basic Law (structure, content, interpretation, and amendment); branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial); the nature and extent of legislative, executive, and judicial power; lawmaking in Hong Kong; judicial review; the relationship between the Basic Law and the Constitution of the PRC; democracy; the Bill of Rights; and external affairs and treaties.