Legislative Council of Hong Kong

Coordinates: 22°16′51.41″N, 114°09′36.65″E

The Legislative Council (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

History

Formed as a colonial legislature under the British in 1843, the first direct elections of the Legislative Council took place in 1991.

The Legislative Council of Hong Kong has been housed in the Old Supreme Court building in Central Hong Kong since 1985.

The statue on the Legislative Council Building is a replica of the one erected on the Old Bailey of London - a depiction of the goddess of justice, Themis, a left-over from the former Supreme Court.

Unlike many other former (or current) Commonwealth legislatures, the Hong Kong Legislative Council does not have a ceremonial mace placed in its chambers. However, the high courts of Hong Kong use a mace to open sessions and represents the authority and powers of the court. The power and authority is held by the Chief Executive (formerly the colonial Governor when Hong Kong was under British rule).

Organisation

The term of office of a legislator is four years in length, except for the first term from 1998 to 2000 which was set at two years (Article 69, Basic Law).

In the 2004 election, 30 members were directly elected by universal suffrage from geographical constituencies (GC) and 30 were elected from functional constituencies. In the previous election in 2000, 24 were directly elected, 6 elected from an 800-member electoral college called the Election Committee of Hong Kong, and 30 elected from functional constituencies. The method of election after 2007 has not been specified. The Basic Law states that the ultimate aim is the election of all the Legco members by universal suffrage (Article 68 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong).

The Legislative Council Building.

Private members' bills and motions have to be passed by majorities in both chambers off the legislature - members returned from geographical constituencies and election committee, and members returned from functional constituencies. This arrangement, however, is not necessary for government bills, with only a simple majority required to secure passage. Meanwhile, amendments to the Basic Law require a two-thirds vote in LegCo for passage, but without a specific requirement in each chamber.After passing LegCo, the amendment must be approved by a supermajority of the same size among Hong Kong's delegates to the National People's Congress, and also the approval of the Chief Executive (since veto power is given to him).(Article 159, Basic Law)

Latest result

Main article: Hong Kong legislative election, 2004

Constituencies

Geographical constituencies

The GC seats are returned by universal suffrage. The voting system adopted in these electoral districts is a system of party-list proportional representation (PR), with seats allocated by the largest remainder method using the Hare quota as the quota for election. The system is widely considered to give representative legislatures. There were 3.06 million registered voters.

Functional constituencies

There are 28 functional constituencies (FC) represented in LegCo, representing various sectors of the community which were considered playing a crucial role in the development of Hong Kong.

In the 2000 election, 27 of the FCs returned 1 member, except the Labour functional constituency which returned 3 members, giving a total of 30 FC seats.

• Heung Yee Kuk
• Agriculture and fisheries
• Insurance
• Financial services
• Transport
• Accountancy
• Finance
• Education
• Legal
• Information technology
• Medical
• Health services
• Architectural, surveying and planning
• Real estate and construction
• Social welfare
• Tourism
• Commercial (first)
• Commercial (second)
• Industrial (first)
• Industrial (second)
• Import and export
• Wholesale and retail
• Textiles and garment
• Sport, performing arts, culture and publication
• Catering
• District Council
• Labour

A simple plurality system was used for 23 of the FCs, in which an eligible voter may cast one vote. The exceptions were Labour FC in which a voter may cast up to three votes, thereby creating a block vote, and the Heung Yee Kuk, Agriculture and Fisheries, Insurance, and Transport FCs where a preferential elimination system was used due to the small number of voters. In the latter a voter must indicate preferences rather than approval/disapproval or a single choice.

Election Committee

10 LegCo members and were returned by the Election Committee (EC) in the 1998 election, and 6 in the 2000 election, in accordance with Annex II of the Basic Law. Now this college of electors is used only to elect the Chief Executive. There are 800 members in the EC, coming from four sectors with 200 members each. (Basic Law, Ann.1, Sect. 2)

• Industrial, commercial and financial sectors
• The professions
• Labour, social services, religious and other sectors
• Members of the LegCo, representatives of district-based organisations, Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC), and representatives of Hong Kong members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Most of the 800 EC members were returned by earlier sub-sector elections. The 6 LegCo members were chosen by a "first-past-the-post" system, with each EC member casting a vote to choose exactly 6 candidates among themselves.

Seating arrangement

Members of the Legislative Council are seated to the left and front of the President's chair in the chambers. The three rows to the right are reserved for the secretaries and other civil servants of the government, and other people whom appear in the meetings.

Photos at the bottom

Presidents of the Legislative Council

Main article: President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong

The President is the speaker of the council.

Officers of the Legislative Council

^{[citation needed]}Assisting the President are the officers of the Legco. The Clerk sits to the left of the President and the remaining officers at the large desk in the centre of the Council (3 chairs facing away from the President). When the CE (or Governor) is in Council, he or she will address from either a podium in front of the President or to the right of the President.

Clerk of the Legislative Council

• Mr Cletus Lau Kwok Hong
• Mr Ricky Fung Choi Cheung JP
• Mr Law Kam Sang
• Mrs Jennie Chok Pang Yuen Yee 1982-1986
• Mr LI Wing
• Ms. L. Tse 1974-1977
• Mrs Lorna Leung Tsui Lai Man 1978-1982
• Mr. Stephen Tam Shu Pui
• Mr Kenneth Harry Wheeler
• Mrs Lolly Tse Chiu Yuen Chu
• Mr Roderick John Frampton
• Mr Geoffery Cadzow Hamilton
• Mr. JAE Bullock 1919
• Mr A. Dyer Ball 1918, 1922
• Mr R.F. Johnston 1900-1904 (acting 1899-1900)
• Mr,. A.M. Thompson acting 1891-1892
• Mr J. Stewart-Lockhart acting 1884-1885
• Arathoon Seth 1885-1886, 1893-
• JM. Gutierrez acting 1886-
• SB B McElderry 1920, 1923, 1924-25
• WJ CArrie 1920
• JGT Buckle - Acting 1894-1896, 1897, 1898-1903 Clerk
• F J Badeley acting 1896-1897
• C Clemeti - acting 1900-1902, 1908, 1913
• AGM Fletcher 1905-1908 1912-1913, 1915-1917, 1920-1923, 1925
• RF Crofton 1907, 1911, 1913
• Mr M J Breen 1914

Deputy Clerk - alternate to the Clerk; replaced by the Secretary General

• Mr Donald Barton
• Mr Andrew Macdonald Chapman
• Mr Ronald Thompson
• Mr R. Edwards
• Mr C. G. Burgess
• Mr. D.R. Holmes MBE MC

Secretary General - alternate to the Clerk

• Mr Ricky Fung Choi Cheung JP
• Mr Law Kam Sang

Deputy Secretary General - alternate to the Secretary General

• Mr Law Kam Sang
• Ms Pauline Ng Man Wah

See also

• Politics of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Legislative Council elections, 2004
• Executive Council of Hong Kong
• Category:Former members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong

External links

• Legislative Council of Hong Kong
• Electoral Affairs Commission

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