Abstract
This article addresses the various difficulties in applying the common law doctrine of the act of state under the Basic Law of Hong Kong at the interface of the common law tradition of Hong Kong and the national legal system of China. The English common law heritage of the doctrine is first reviewed. The discussion of the doctrine under Article 19 of the Basic Law begins with a brief account of the drafting history of the Basic Law provision, followed by an analysis of the application of the various aspects of the common law doctrine in the distinctive context of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The article concludes with a critique of the function of the Act of State doctrine in the regulation of foreign affairs in Hong Kong and the misuse of the doctrine in Democratic Republic of the Congo and others v FG Hemisphere Associates LLC, which was decided conjunctively in 2011 by the Hong Kong’s highest court and China’s national legislature.
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