The Basic Law is the constitutional document of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR"). It prescribes the systems to be practised in the HKSAR in order to ensure the implementation of the basic policies of the People's Republic of China regarding Hong Kong, i.e., "one country, two systems", "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy.

The Basic Law relates closely to the rule of law in the HKSAR and its people's daily lives. Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, there have been a considerable amount of proceedings instituted on the basis of the Basic Law. This database gives a simple account of some of the cases that have been dealt with since Hong Kong's return to the motherland to enable the general public to get to know the contents of the Basic Law through different means.

The court cases contained in this database are extracted from "Hong Kong Basic Law: Case Studies (1997-2010) (Articles 1-42)" (co-authored by Lee Hoey, Simon and Wang Kwok-wah, Justin, published by the Joint Publishing (Hong Kong) Company Limited) and "Hong Kong Basic Law: Case Studies (1997-2010) (Articles 43-160)" (co-authored by Lee Hoey, Simon, Wang Kwok-wah, Justin and Wang Jing, published by the Joint Publishing (Hong Kong) Company Limited). We would like to express our special thanks to Dr Simon Lee, Mr Justin Wang and Dr Wang Jing.