This chapter considers dignity as a constitutional value in Hong Kong. The courts have invoked dignity in a small number of cases involving a limited assortment of rights. Overall this use of dignity has been uneven: while it has helped expand the scope of constitutional rights in some circumstances, dignity has functioned more restrictively in others. An examination of this jurisprudence allows for a reflection on debates about the role of dignity in comparative constitutional law more generally. Commentators have queried whether such a vague and imprecise term has any substantive meaning and whether it should be abandoned altogether. The chapter concludes that attention to context can mitigate these concerns about dignity’s indeterminacy and contribute to its development as a holistic constitutional value. The relevant context is both universal and local. It includes dignity’s position as a broad-based foundational principle in international human rights law across civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. It also depends on domestic factors such as a jurisdiction’s constitutional framework and empirical realities that impact the realization of dignity.

This chapter considers the constitutional right to equality and nondiscrimination as it has developed in Hong Kong and the extent to which it promotes substantive gender equality. Hong Kong provides an interesting comparative study for an examination of feminist constitutionalism given its unique status as a special administrative region (SAR) within China, the world's most populous and arguably most quickly developing nation. Hong Kong's constitutional document, the Basic Law, grants the territory a high degree of autonomy, and its common law system and judicial independence have generally survived since the transfer to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. With some exceptions, human rights are well protected and Hong Kong's role as a financial center has bolstered its influence. In the field of equality law, Hong Kong's increasingly robust judicial interpretation of a constitutional right to equality coupled with its growing body of antidiscrimination legislation highlight its potential to set an example within Asia. This experience also contributes to a better understanding of the potential – and the limits – of international human rights law for furthering gender equality at the domestic level.

This chapter examines several Hong Kong judgments that interpret the right to equality expressed in Article 25 of the Basic Law and relevant provisions of the Bill of Rights, which essentially duplicates the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The courts have also relied on legislation that prohibits direct and indirect discrimination in both the public and private sectors on the grounds of sex, marital status, pregnancy, and family status.