Yan-ho Lai. Legal Resistance under Authoritarianism: The Struggle for the Rule of Law in Hong Kong. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press, 2025.
This book examines the erosion of Hong Kong’s rule of law amid growing authoritarian control by China. Although the 2020 National Security Law marks a critical turning point, threats to legal independence began earlier, with the 1997 handover of sovereignty. Drawing on detailed fieldwork, Yan-ho Lai analyzes the complex tensions between the legal profession, political authorities, and China’s broader authoritarian agenda during key protest movements from 2014 to 2019.
The book highlights the role of a committed minority of legal professionals who actively resisted state encroachments, employing strategic legal resistance to protect Hong Kong’s legal norms and civil liberties. This work illuminates how lawyers can act as important agents of opposition in backsliding democracies, particularly within the context of legal transplantation and authoritarian influence beyond national borders. It also situates Hong Kong’s legal struggles within the larger global fight against authoritarianism.