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4 - The Common Law after 1997:

Joe Ma’s Lawyer Lawyer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2021

Marco Wan
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
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Summary

In Chapter 4, I interpret Joe Ma’s Lawyer, Lawyer (1997; 算死草), a farcical comedy of seemingly little jurisprudential value, as a response to debates about the future of the common law in Hong Kong after 1997. In the years leading up to the handover, there were heated discussions of whether the common law should continue to be cited in the territory after China resumed sovereignty, and if so, what kind of authority English precedent should have. While some staunch common law lawyers argued for preserving English law’s privileged status, more reform-minded jurists argued for cutting the territory’s “constitutional umbilicus” from England by relying on local cases. I will contend that the lawyer in Ma’s film wins his case by relying on an English precedent case that is hinted at, but not explicitly mentioned, and further suggest that his highly unorthodox way of citing precedent provides an indication of how Hong Kong can conceive of the place of the English common law after 1997.

Type
Chapter
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Film and Constitutional Controversy
Visualizing Hong Kong Identity in the Age of 'One Country, Two Systems'
, pp. 83 - 98
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • The Common Law after 1997:
  • Marco Wan, The University of Hong Kong
  • Book: Film and Constitutional Controversy
  • Online publication: 05 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108863025.005
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  • The Common Law after 1997:
  • Marco Wan, The University of Hong Kong
  • Book: Film and Constitutional Controversy
  • Online publication: 05 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108863025.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Common Law after 1997:
  • Marco Wan, The University of Hong Kong
  • Book: Film and Constitutional Controversy
  • Online publication: 05 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108863025.005
Available formats
×