Criminal Due Process in Hong Kong and Singapore: A Mutual Challenge

Abstract

This article explores what the author believes to be the fruitful task of comparing the divergent development of criminal due process jurisprudence in Hong Kong following the enactment of the Bill of Rights Ordinance and the Basic Law, with that in Singapore. Whilst Singapore cases have remained conservative, Hong Kong courts have begun to develop what promises to be a robust attitude toward due process issues. It is argued that the comparison between the two jurisdictions is especially apt given the many similarities between the peoples of Hong Kong and Singapore. The article also ventures to sketch out the predictive exercise of asking whether Singapore is likely to become more like Hong Kong, or whether it is Hong Kong which will move closer to Singapore.