A Study On The Application Of Review Principles In Hong Kong Judicial Review

Over the past 20 years since the return of Hong Kong to China,judicial review cases have been increasing year by year.More and more judicial review cases have attracted the attention of Hong Kong society and the public.Residents and social organizations in Hong Kong have also increasingly applied to courts for judicial review to challenge the administrative acts HKSAR executive administration makes.As the number of cases applying for judicial review continues to grow year by year,issues such as whether the judicial review system has been abused,and the role and value of judicial review have become topics that the community pays great attention to and has hot discussion on.In fact,although the number of cases of Hong Kong residents and social organizations applying for judicial review has increased year by year,the number of cases approved by courts accounts for only a small part of applications.The executive authorities have won the majority of the cases obtaining permission for approval while residents and social groups have a lower rate of success.To sort out the judgments of judicial review by Hong Kong courts,and to examine the principles of review applied by the court and how to apply these principles in the rulings whether the administrative acts are unconstitutional or illegal,would help Hong Kong's society and residents rationally understand the role and value of the judicial review system.From the verdicts of the Court of Final Appeal and the High Court that involve the rights of residents and social groups,we can see there are four review principles that Hong Kong courts generally apply in judicial reviews,namely the principle of legality,the principle of rationality,the principle of due process and the principle of proportionality.It is through the application of these four review principles that courts determine whether the administrative authority's actions are legal and reasonable,whether the procedures are appropriate,and whether they are proportionate.In applying these review principles,it reflects the qualitative analysis on the nature of rights of certain residents or social groups,and reflects the boundaries or scope of the legality,rationality and proportionality in administrative acts,and reflects the grounds for courts to judge that the administrative acts are unconstitutional(in violation of the Hong Kong Basic Law)or illegal,and reflects the intensity of the judicial review by the court,and presents the thought and attitude of courts to safeguard rights and supervise power in specific cases through judicial review.