Discuss whether Hong Kong has a written, unwritten, concrete and/or abstract constitution

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Discuss whether Hong Kong has a written, unwritten, concrete and/or abstract constitution.

A constitution is a system for the government that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity. It defines the fundamental political principles and establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties, of a government. It also determines the relationship within the government institutions as well as relationship between government and individual citizens.

Different countries have different types of constitution. The U.S. has one that is called a written or codified constitution, meaning that there is one document or a collection of documents which blatantly sets out such fundamental rules and principles. On the other hand, some countries such as UK do not have such document, and constitutional rules and principles have to be extracted from different sources, including enacted law, judicial decisions and conventions. They are said to belong to another type of constitution, namely the unwritten or uncodified constitution.

In addition to the written and unwritten classification, there exists another distinction, namely a concrete and an abstract constitution.  A concrete constitution is the document that comprises the written constitution, in which the most basic rules are stated. However, not all institutional precepts and government attributes can be expressed in this concrete fashion. In most cases, the legislation and court decisions will supplement the written outline, providing what is known as the abstract constitution.

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Hong Kong received its first constitution in 1843 from Britain with little participation from the colony itself. Over time, advancements in constitutionalism began to develop. First was the setting up of advisory committees and consultative organisation which allowed the public to involve more in policy-making processes. Later saw the appointment of Chinese unofficial members to the Legislative Council, and an election system had later been introduced in 1984. During the 90s, structural reforms in Legislative Council and Executive Council, such as the restructure of internal committees and separation of executive authority, as well as further development in human rights and ...

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