单一制国家特别行政区研究:以苏格兰、加泰罗尼亚和香港为例

Revisiting Regions with High Degree of Autonomy in Unitary States:Scotland,Catalonia,and Hong Kong

讨论单一制国家某些特别行政区的高度自治,关键在于说明此类地区究竟与通常所谓"一级行政区"有何不同。本文将选择三个有代表性的案例,即苏格兰、加泰罗尼亚和香港,论证单一制国家高度自治行政区的权力来源、法律地位和对外事务都有自己的特征。这些地区多有历史上的事实权力孑遗,它们的自治地位据称可以得到多样法律渊源的支持,而它们的对外交往也带来新的法律挑战。但这些特征尚不足以改变这些地区所在国家的单一制宪法框架,国家仍可单方面地改变它们的状态。以权力来源、法律地位和对外事务等特征为基础,本文试图进一步精炼单一制国家高度自治行政区的概念。

The high degree of autonomy of regions in a unitary state must be understood in contrast with the status of other first-level administrative divisions in the host state. This arti- cle selects three representative examples of regions with high-degree autonomy in unitary state, namely Scotland, Catalonia, and Hong Kong, to demonstrate that these regions have their u- nique characteristics in terms of the configuration of powers, legal status, and external relations as compared to ordinary top administrative divisions in their respective host state ： most of these regions retain factual powers that are not yet replaced by the state ; their autonomy is under- pinned by various legal sources; and their external relations often bring new legal challenges. However, the above-mentioned characteristics are not enough to alter the unitary nature of their host states, as the state remains capable, both politically and legally, to unitarily change the status of such regions. On the basis of these special characteristics, this article tries to further conceptualize regions with high degree autonomy in a unitary state.