Available in Russian
Author: Aleksei Dolzhikov
DOI: 10.21128/1812-7126-2025-4-117-134
Keywords: legal methodology; comparative legal method; political constitutionalism; Constitution of the People’s Republic of China; Basic Law of Hong Kong; the right to self-determination; “one country, two systems”
Relationship between Hong Kong and mainland China within the “one country, two systems” framework is a good opportunity to discuss constitutional issues in Russia. Is the socialist legal tradition compatible with classical constitutionalism as a limitation for public authority? How do the surviving elements of this tradition influence constitutional adjudication? What functions do constitutions fulfill in autocratic regimes? Should the very concept of a constitution be adjusted depending on the cultural differences of a particular jurisdiction? This article consists of an introduction and two main parts. The first examines the compatibility of classic constitutionalism with Marxism and the socialist legal tradition. The separation of powers and other limitations on authority are incompatible with Marxism-Leninism. Collectivism is contradicted by private interests of individual, who is considered a means to achieving higher goals. When declared rights are in conflict with collective interests, they fade into the background. The experience of building socialism raises doubts about the justiciability of individual rights in such states. The absence of judicial constitutional review is justified by the belief that the review of legislative decisions supposedly aimed at achieving the common good of the entire people is unnecessary. The author discusses the instrumental approach to the constitution, when one is utilized to retain domination by an autocrat or central government. The classification of Hong Kong’s legal system as a mixed jurisdiction allows the second part to address the difference between political and legal constitutionalism. These approaches have different target audiences and practical applications of the research findings. In one case, these are policy recommendations, while in the second, they are memoranda in constitutional litigation. The author argues that both approaches require different methods for constitutional research. Studying constitutionalism through a political lens is unthinkable without empirical methods. Legal constitutionalism, as a research method, alongside traditional legal conceptualism, is expressed through the case method.
About the author: Aleksei Dolzhikov – Doctor of Sciences in Law, Associate Professor of the Constitutional Law, Faculty of Law, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Citation: Dolzhikov A. (2025) Vmesto statuy budut urny: zakat klassicheskogo konstitutsionalizma v Gonkonge [Statues will be replaced by urns: decline of classical constitutionalism in Hong Kong]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.34, no.4, pp.117–134. (In Russian).
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