WINDOW DRESSING OR MEANINGFUL CONSTRAINT? ASSESSING THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS AND THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE IN HONG KONG'S LEGAL SYSTEM

In July 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the treaty -monitoring body for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), completed its fourth review of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. The Committee expressed grave concerns regarding the recent restrictions on civil liberties, particularly since the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong (NSL) came into force. The Committee's Concluding Observations & mdash; and the Hong Kong Government's initial response to them & mdash; raise serious doubts as to whether local officials still view the ICCPR as a meaningful constraint on governmental power. The local courts could improve this situation by making a concerted effort to use the ICCPR and the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee as a guide to interpreting vague statutory language in the NSL and local sedition legislation. This would be entirely consistent with the approach that has long been followed by Hong Kong's appellate courts. Yet, for some reason, we have not yet seen this approach in recent judgments convicting defendants of NSL and sedition offences. If this trend continues, then the ICCPR may eventually be viewed as mere "window dressing" in Hong Kong's legal system.