Fu Hualing & Michael Jackson on Protest, Law and Regime Type (new book chapter)

"Protest, Law and Regime Type"
Fu Hualing & Michael Jackson
in Democracy and Rule of Law in China's Shadow, edited by Brian Christopher Jones, (Hart Publishing, July 2021), Chapter One

Introduction: Although political uproar in Hong Kong has been evident in recent months, 2013 and 2014 witnessed one of the most volatile moments in the recent history of the Greater China region. Large, lengthy and well-organised political protests swept mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The protests were unprecedented; each challenged the core of the respective political system. All have had significant impact on the political development in the respective societies. In 2013, Xu Zhiyong led his New Citizens Movement (NCM) into street action in different cities in China. In a spirit of freedom, public interest and love, NCM protesters, organised around dinner tables and coordinated via social media, demonstrated on the streets in small groups with home-made banners and cards to demand equal opportunities in education, freedom of the press and disclosure of assets of Party and state leaders.

Stephen Thomson and Eric Ip on Hong Kong's Legal Response to Covid-19 ( new OUP encyclopedia book chapter)

"Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China: Legal Response to Covid-19"

Stephen Thomson and Eric Ip
in Jeff King and Octavio Ferraz (eds), The Oxford Compendium of National Legal Responses to Covid-19 (Oxford University Press, 2021)

Abstract: Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the HKSAR had experienced several months of civil unrest following the introduction of a bill to the Legislative Council of the HKSAR regarding extradition matters. The protests, which were at their most intense in the second half of 2019 and which included violent clashes between protestors and police officers, vandalism of public property, and the shutting down of major infrastructure in Hong Kong, sparked a series of major political and constitutional events. The unrest eventually led to the enactment of the National Security Law for the HKSAR by the PRC authorities which is arguably the most significant constitutional development in the territory since the resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong by the PRC on 1 July 1997.    

      It is against this backdrop that Covid-19 arrived in the HKSAR in January 2020. With prior experience of a similar, though globally less severe, outbreak of infectious disease, in the form of SARS in 2003, the HKSAR implemented control measures relatively early in the Covid-19 pandemic which kept reported cases at comparatively low levels by international standards.  Just over 11,000 positive cases have been officially reported of a population of approximately 7.5 million people, and officially reported daily deaths never exceeded single digits.  Although no general 'lockdown' was implemented in the manner of other countries and territories, the HKSAR's 'success' in controlling Covid-19 has nevertheless been achieved through the use of controversial means such as 'ambush' lockdowns of residential blocks, government quarantine camps, and some of the most stringent quarantine and isolation strategies seen anywhere in the world. Additionally, elections to the HKSAR's Legislative Council were postponed for at least one year in the name of public health protection.​ ... Click here to access the full encyclopedia book chapter. 

"On Street Protests and Human Rights" (Special Issue of the Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law)

 ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE LAW

Editors-in-Chief: Simon NM Young and Kelley Loper

Publisher: Brill, Leiden

2020, Vol. 20, Issue 1

Special Issue: On Street Protests and Human Rights

Table of Contents

Introduction

As 2019 came to an end, many labelled it ‘the year of street protest’. One estimate counted 71,790 protest events around the world in 2019, compared to 35,707 in 2018 and 23,990 in 2017. Rachman could see no ‘convincing global explanation’ for the 2019 protests, but they were obviously ‘connected’ in terms of ‘inspiring emulation’ and ‘shared tactics’. The bbc identified several common themes: inequality, corruption, political freedom, and climate change. Wright noted that ‘virtually all protests worldwide quickly escalated, and began issuing ultimatums for their governments to embrace sweeping changes – or to move aside’. Social media has been a ‘powerful organising tool everywhere’. It was assumed protests would continue unabated into 2020, but then the coronavirus pandemic struck. With global lockdowns and other social distancing measures, the first four months of 2020 have seen a substantial decrease in street protests worldwide. Governmental responses to prevent the spread of Covid-19 have severely restricted public gatherings and assemblies, not to mention other rights and freedoms. For example, in Hong Kong, gatherings of more than four persons in a public place were criminalised on 29 March 2020, punishable by up to 6 months imprisonment or a fine of HK$25,000. While these extraordinary measures are aimed at flattening the curve of new infections, there are growing concerns some governments are using these emergency powers for repressive ends, a situation that may possibly continue even after the pandemic has been contained... Click here to read the full Introduction.

To Facilitate and Protect: State Obligations and the Right of Peaceful Assembly in International Human Rights Law
By: Michael Hamilton
Pages: 5–34

The Democracy Dichotomy: Framing the Hong Kong 2019 Street Protests as Legitimacy Counterclaims against an Incoherent Constitutional Morality
By: James Greenwood-Reeves
Pages: 35–62

‘It was you who taught me that peaceful marches did not work’, Uncivil Disobedience and the Hong Kong Protests: Justification, Duty and Resistance
By: Jane Richards
Pages: 63–97

Implications of Easter Island Protests – Breach of Rapa Nui Rights by Chile in the Context of National, American and Universal Legal Systems
By: Joanna Siekiera
Pages: 98–120

The Law and Policy of Police and Prosecutorial Control of Detention in China
By: Kuibin Zhu and David M Siegel
Pages: 121–137

Call for Papers: Special Issue on Street Protests and Human Rights (APJHRL) [DEADLINE: end of Jan 2020]

Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law

Centre for Comparative and Public Law

Call for Papers

Special Issue on Street Protests and Human Rights

In 2019 Hong Kong saw unprecedented confrontations between police and protesters sparked by human rights concerns with a proposed amendment bill that would have enabled the surrender of fugitive offenders to other parts of China.  Street protests leading to clashes with the police also flared up in Moscow, Kashmir, West Papua, Cape Town, Mexico, Zimbabwe, and Honduras. Police powers and public order measures can have severe consequences for protesters, journalists, and other members of the public.  These recent events have given rise to many important human rights law issues that may require the attention of courts, tribunals, legislative bodies, governments, and international organisations. To contribute to a global discussion of these issues, the Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law is soliciting new scholarship on the human rights law issues of street protests in the Asia-Pacific or of potential interest to the region, particularly in terms of international standards.  An editorial committee of experts will peer review submitted papers and the best ones will be published in a special issue of the journal planned for issue 1 of volume 21 (2020). 

  Established in 2000 and now based at The University of Hong Kong, the Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law is the leading law journal on human rights in Asia.  It has published influential articles on important human rights issues occurring in most Asia-Pacific jurisdictions.  Two issues of the journal are published each year. Abstracts of articles are indexed on Scopus and searchable on Westlaw.  Full text is available on BrillOnline, EBSCO, and HeinOnline. The journal’s website is https://brill.com/view/journals/aphu/aphu-overview.xml.

  Submission instructions. For the special issue, papers should be no longer than 12,000 words (inclusive of footnotes).  Please follow the OSCOLA (4^th edn) standard for the citation of legal authorities. Email papers to apjhrl@hku.hk.  For papers to be considered for the special issue, they must be received by 31 January 2020.

                                                             Editors-in-Chief

Simon N. M. Young                                     Kelley Loper

Professor                                                        Associate Professor

Faculty of Law                                               Faculty of Law

                         The University of Hong Kong                    The University of Hong Kong

Fu Hualing & Michael Jackson on Protest, Law, and Regime Type: A Case Study of Hong Kong, Mainland China and Taiwan (forthcoming book chapter)

“Protest, Law, and Regime Type : A Case Study of Hong Kong, Mainland China and Taiwan”
Fu Hualing & Michael Jackson in
Democracy and the Rule of Law in China’s Shadow (forthcoming Hart Publishing)

Abstract: This article explores the politics of protest law in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China. Our principal argument is that regime type is determinative of the political meaning and significance of protests, the structure of protest law, and punishment imposed on protesters. Different regimes assign drastically different political meanings and significance to protests; empower or limit courts in offering different degrees of protection of the right to protest; and encourage or prohibit civil society organizations in  their function of nurturing a society with the freedom to protest.  Click here to download the full paper.