Constitutional Law
What the exam tests
Constitutional Law tests the text and structure of the 1982 Constitution (amended 2018), the status of the Constitution, state organs, fundamental rights and duties, and the special relationship with the Basic Law of Hong Kong. You must know which organ has which power and how constitutional review works in China.
Core rules
- The Constitution is the fundamental law and has supreme legal effect. No law, administrative regulation, local regulation, or rule may contravene it.
- The NPC is the highest organ of state power; the NPCSC exercises interpretative power over the Constitution and supervises its implementation. Ordinary courts do not have power to declare statutes unconstitutional.
- The 2018 amendment added supervision commissions, incorporated Xi Jinping Thought into the preamble, and strengthened the constitutional oath and review.
- Fundamental rights include equality, political rights, freedom of religious belief, personal freedom, social and economic rights, and the right to state compensation. Rights are exercised within legal limits.
- The Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR is a national law adopted under Article 31; the SAR enjoys a high degree of autonomy, but the Constitution and Basic Law together form the constitutional order.
Worked example
A provincial regulation provides that no one may wear religious symbols in public institutions and imposes fines. A citizen argues it violates freedom of religious belief. The analysis: the regulation must have a lawful purpose and be adopted within legislative authority; it must not restrict the core of a constitutional right more than necessary. If the restriction is blanket and not provided by national law, it risks contravening the Constitution and the Legislation Law. The remedy is not an ordinary lawsuit asking a court to annul the regulation; it is through record-and-review or NPCSC supervision, and possibly administrative litigation if a concrete act is applied.
Traps
Do not say the courts exercise constitutional review. Do not confuse the NPC with the NPCSC: the NPC amends the Constitution; the NPCSC interprets it. Do not call the Basic Law an ordinary local statute. Do not treat rights as absolute. Do not overlook that the 2018 amendment created supervision commissions.