Date: 08Oct 2016

Between April and August 2015, the Rule of Law and Legal Culture Project conducted an empirical study on the legal culture of Hong Kong with the objective of 1) ascertaining and comparing the values and beliefs of the public and legal personnel, and 2) determining whether Hong Kong has a healthy external and internal legal culture to sustain the rule of law of Hong Kong.

As part of the project’s survey component, over 3,500 randomly selected Hong Kong citizens, government officials in policy bureaux, senior officers in law enforcement agencies, legislators, judges and lawyers in Hong Kong were asked a wide range of questions concerning the performance of legal institutions and their understanding of the legal culture in Hong Kong. Their responses provided valuable information concerning both the internal and external legal cultures of Hong Kong – the legal culture of both the general public and the legal personnel directly responsible for operating the legal system of Hong Kong.

The CCPL is organising a series of seminars on the Rule of Law and Legal Culture in Hong Kong between October and November 2016 to disseminate and discuss the findings. This seminar is the first in the series, and provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the significance of the findings for the development and maintenance of the rule of law in Hong Kong.