The Common Law in Two Voices 리뷰

** 이 글의 무단 사용을 금합니다. 배포, 인용, 내용 변경 전에 글 하단의 CCL 아이콘과 안내문(http://bravebird.tistory.com/359)을 반드시 확인하십시오. 불펌 발각 시 엄중대처합니다. **

올해는 영어책을 읽고 나면(몇권안됨..) goodreads.com에 간단한 리뷰도 쓰고 있습니다. 홍콩 보통법의 이중언어 상황에 대한 책인데요. 어제 다 읽고 이제 핀란드 여행 준비하려고 구스타프 만네르하임(핀란드 전 대통령, 핀란드 독립영웅, 세계대전 영웅, 러시아 군인 시절 중국 서북변방 정탐활동까지 했던 스파이!)에 대한 책을 보기 시작했어요. 지금 리뷰 안 쓰면 영영 안할 거 같아서 야근 후 집에 와서 했습니다. 유난히 길어졌네요. 졸려서 뻗겠음... 퇴고할 기력이 모자랍니다. 추후에 고칠 수도 있어요.

이 책이랑 다른 자료에서 읽은 홍콩 법조계의 이중언어 상황은 홍콩 사법 이야기 (3)으로 정리해서 쓸 거예요. 재밌는 내용이라 빨리 올리고 싶은데 요즘 근성이 모자라네요. goodreads에 방금 올린 아래 리뷰를 예고편으로 올려두지요.

2017/04/10 - [중점추진사업/홍콩] - 홍콩 사법 이야기 (1) - 홍콩의 외국인 판사

2017/04/18 - [중점추진사업/홍콩] - 홍콩 사법 이야기 (2) - 전인대 상무위원회의 유권해석

A good read to take a look into how bilingual common law operates in Hong Kong. It is a theme rarely explored in the publishing world, especially in Korea where I live. Bilingual legal system is what we cannot really imagine yet. The work is also a great combination of topics I enjoy very much─Hong Kong, law and politics, language and sociology.  Since Hong Kong's handover in 1997, Cantonese inevitably permeates into Hong Kong's legal system as an official language. Meanwhile, as guaranteed by 'one country, two systems' principle, Hong Kong maintains its common law system where legal terms and precedents are firmly based on English language and British history.  Through discourse analysis, this book portrays the division of labor between English and Cantonese in Hong Kong courts where Cantonese is preferred for swift fact check while English stands still as the backbone for legal reasoning and conceptualization. The use of Cantonese in Hong Kong courts encourages public access to legal service, which is a major stride in light of Hong Kong democracy. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's English common law system, which is both a colonial legacy and a symbol of autonomy from the mainland, faces an unprecedented challenge. What does it mean that Cantonese made its way into Hong Kong courts?  There is still a far way to go before the advent of such a thing as 'Chinese common law.' To base a legal system upon, Cantonese is too colloquial a dialect that does not seem to be able to replace English sooner or later. The recent advance of Putonghua, however, is expected to be a major challenge for the legal system of Hong Kong. Others see it as a chance for Hong Kong to be the leader to help mainland China improve its legal system to meet the global standard. Hong Kong's common law system is a major watershed that separates Hong Kong from mainland China where socialist civil law is applied. Thus, common law is regarded as the last bastion of Hong Kong's autonomy and democracy. Rule of law is also a hot topic and a central value that recent Hongkongers hold onto against the CCP rule. For a practical cause also, Hong Kong would not be able to easily give up the English common law system that attracts foreign investment. Try flipping through the book to witness the intriguing irony of Hong Kong where the introduction of local language in courts both boosts democracy by lowering the hurdle of legal service and at the same time poses certain threats to the city's autonomy.

** 이 글의 무단 사용을 금합니다. 배포, 인용, 내용 변경 전에 글 하단의 CCL 아이콘과 안내문(http://bravebird.tistory.com/359)을 반드시 확인하십시오. 불펌 발각 시 엄중대처합니다. **