The aim of this book and a brief description of its con tents appear in chapter I. The purpose of this preface is to express our thanks to various people and organizations. Professor Peter Groenewegen of Sydney University and Dr. Michael Krueger of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have both been extremely helpful in reading the ma terial and proffering many valuable suggestions. We also wish to thank an anonymous referee for Springer Verlag, for his critical reading and comments. Naturally, we take full responsibility for whatever errors and shortcomings remain. OUr thanks go to...

The future of the Common Law judicial system in Hong Kong depends on the perceptions of it by Hong Kong's Chinese population, judicial developments prior to July 1, 1997, when Hong Kong passes from British to Chinese control, and the Basic Law. These critical issues are addressed in this book.