Research Briefing
Universal suffrage to elect the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2017: a legal primer
In August 2014 the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress decided that the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong should be directly elected in 2017 by universal suffrage. However, the candidates (expected to be two or three in total) will still have to be approved in advance by a nominating committee, whose composition and method of formation will remain unchanged from that of the 1200-person strong ‘Election Committee’ which elected the current Chief Executive in 2012. Critics argue that this nominating committee will have an in-built ‘pro-Beijing’ bias. The decision has triggered a wave of protest. This briefing summarises the legal context of recent events, including the UK's own obligations.