Air Pollution in Hong Kong : The Failure of Judicial Review and the Slight Promise of Recent Cases

Public bodies are endowed with far-reaching administrative powers to formulate and implement policy. Administrative law focuses upon the extent of these powers, the way in which they are exercised and controlled, on the relationship between public bodies and those who are affected by decision-making. With the growth of executive power, judicial review has emerged as a necessary counterweight to assure accountability in the decision-making of government authorities. Against such a background, this article evaluates the contribution which judicial review has made to combating air pollution in Hong Kong to date. It essays a variety of reasons to do with Hong Kong’s colonial past as to why judicial review has, in general, been a dilute force for accountability of administrators and especially so when a decision has environmental implications