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In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to Chinese sovereignty after over 150 years of British colonial rule. The Sino-British Joint Declaration–the international treaty that underpinned the handover–guaranteed that Hong Kong shall, for 50 years (until 2047), practise different economic, social and legal systems and enjoy a high degree of autonomy, an arrangement known as ‘One country, two systems’. These guarantees were elaborated in the territory’s post-handover constitutional charter, the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (BL). The governing framework of ‘One country, two systems’ seeks to fit a vibrant capitalist economy and a liberal common law legal system within a one-party state that practices a ‘socialist market economy’and a legal system of Soviet lineage–a unique arrangement that saw no precedent. The key challenge facing Hong Kong’s constitutional order has been that of maintaining the distinctiveness of Hong Kong while accommodating Chinese sovereignty.