香港法院在涉选举案件中的司法尊让

Judicial Constrain of Hong Kong Court in Election Cases

"司法尊让"原则是指法院在司法推理论证的过程中对政府的判断给予适当的尊重,这一原则在不同的宪制语境下各有渊源,但归根结底体现了法院基于制度能力、制度正当性而对其他权力分支的决定保持司法谦抑的姿态。香港法院亦经常通过司法尊让这一工具来保障自身在现有宪制分权秩序下的正当角色。本文拟对"司法尊让"这一原则进行理论分析,并以近年来香港特别行政区四起选举领域的案件为线索分析法院在司法审查的过程中基于个案如何保持尊让。

The principle of judicial deference refers to that the courts in the judicial reasoning accord some weight to the judgment of other governmental branches, this principle in different constitutional context have their own roots but in sum it reflects the courts based on institutional capacity or institutional legitimacy to keep judicial restraint to the decisions of other powers. Hong Kong courts have also resorted this tool to guarantee their legitimate role in the existing constitutional decentrali zation order. This paper intends to conduct a theoretical analysis of the principle of judicial deference and uses recent four cases about election of HKSAR to detect how Hong Kong courts apply the judicial deference case by case and conclude that the degree of deference depends on the nature of the right, standards of scrutiny, the issue of the case and some other factors.