Bulletin Number Five 1984

■27th Congregation Address by Dr. T.L. Yang You r Exce l l enc y the Chancellor, Dr. Lee the Chai rman o f Counci l, Dr . Ma the Vice-Chancellor, members o f the Uni ver si t y Counci l, membe rs o f St aff , a ll g raduat ing students, ladies and gen t lemen : I f ee l m y s e l f ex t r eme l y f o r t un a t e to have been selected f o r the awa r d o f an hono r a r y doc t o r a t e by The Chinese Uni versi ty o f Ho n g Kong. On beh a l f o f m y f e l l ow graduates and mysel f, we o f f e r the Uni versi ty o u r sincere thanks and wish the Uni ve rsi ty a b r i gh t f u t u r e . We also take the o p p o r t u n i t y to cong ra tu la te al l the students who graduate t oday and wi sh y o u every success in al l y o u r undertakings. The Future o f the Judicial System —A Personal View The judicial system is part of the legal system, which in turn forms part of the social system. Similarly the political system is also part of the social system. Thus both the legal and political systems are com­ ponents of the social system, and these two are both inter-related and cannot be forcibly separated. Each society has its peculiar historical background and ethos, its own attitudes towards life and value judg­ ment. For this reason every society must adopt a policy which is suitable to its own circumstances in order to demarcate and establish a boundary of rights and obligations, to distribute resources and wealth, to decide on a political system, to define the relations between its people, and to harmonize the interaction between the government and the people, and so on. From this we can see that the enactment and administration of the law greatly influence the movement of society. Society is the mother of law. Society therefore comes into being before the law. The law is aimed at society. In other words, the people and corporate bodies within the society are objects of the law. It is society that determines the contents of its laws. On the other hand, the making and the administration o f law also determines the progress and prosperity of society. It is in this way that law and society affect each other. A particular type of society requires a particular law; the harmony between the two must be finely balanced in order to achieve the result desired. Law itself is neither live nor dynamic. It is the judicial organ that breathes life and motion into our law. The aim of the law is to put into practice the spirit and desire of the law, so as to attain balance within the society. Through the courts the Judiciary explains and administers the law, solves disputes between the people and makes decisions on the conflicts between people and government. I f the courts constantly let the people and the executive arm of government clearly understand the limits of their own rights and obligations so that all words and actions may be tested against the law, then the law w ill become something which is capable of life and movement, and it sets a standard of behaviour which everyone may rely on. In 143 years and after numerous tests, the Hong Kong judicial system has established a strong and healthy foundation. It now has not only the confi­ dence and support of our people, but also the praise of countries all over the world. The Judiciary has all along carried the heavy responsibility of protecting and continuing the present social system. The work o f our Judiciary in the future will be heavy and full o f challenges. We now know that both China and Great Britain have adopted a solemn policy for the fifty years after 1997: the social system will not change, our life style will not change, our economic system w ill not change, and there will be no substan­ tial changes in our laws, save for any that contravenes the Basic Law. It follows that there will be no basic changes in our judicial system. On this premise we may make an optimistic forecast about the future NEWS 9