The law of Hong Kong is based on the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. The constitutional framework for the legal system is provided by the Hong Kong Basic Law. Under the principle of ‘one country, two systems’, the legal framework of Hong Kong is based on the English common law, supplemented by local legislation. The statute law is collected in a compilation called the Laws of Hong Kong. As a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Hong Kong legal system is significantly different from that of the People's Republic of China (PRC). However, a small number of PRC laws, such as those involving national emblems and symbols, apply in Hong Kong by virtue of stipulations in Article 18 and Annex III of the Basic Law. They apply in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong legislature legislating on the same matter: for example, the Law About the National Flag of the People's Republic of China, a Chinese statute, does not apply to Hong Kong directly; it takes effect in Hong Kong in form of the National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance, a Hong Kong statute enacted by the Hong Kong legislature. The separation of the Hong Kong legal system to the PRC is guaranteed constitutionally until at least 2047.
The legal system in Hong Kong is therefore similar to the common law systems used in England and Wales and other Commonwealth countries. In contrast, the legal system of the People's Republic of China is akin to those in Continental Europe and others belonging to the civil law tradition, with influence from socialist law. The Hong Kong judiciary has had a long reputation for its fairness and was recently rated as the best judicial system in Asia by a North Carolina think tank.
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