Opinion | Hong Kong legislators within their rights to reject same-sex couples bill
If lawmakers decide the city does not want or need a bill to recognise certain rights for same-sex partnerships, that should be respected by all
In his seminal work Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, the constitutional theorist A.V. Dicey discussed parliamentary sovereignty in the UK. He called Britain’s parliament “an absolutely sovereign legislature” with the “right to make or unmake any law”. Although the doctrine has since evolved, it remains integral to the country’s constitutional arrangements.
Whereas the government can invite parliament to enact laws, legislators can refuse. They may, for example, conclude that a particular bill is against the public interest or otherwise unacceptable to the community, whose views they represent.
Moreover, when the British parliament debated the Internal Market Act in 2020, a question arose of whether it was open to the government to propose laws that violated the UK’s obligations in international law. Sir Stephen Laws QC advised that the propriety of breaching the obligations was ultimately a political question for parliament.
In defending its bill, the government stressed that, “Parliament is sovereign as a matter of domestic law and can pass legislation which is in breach of the UK’s treaty obligations. Parliament would not be acting unconstitutionally in enacting such legislation.”
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Hong Kong’s top court orders government to create legal framework for same-sex partnerships