1.
Politics of Hong Kong
–
Executive power is exercised by the government. On July 1,1997, sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to the China, ending over one and a half centuries of British rule. Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region of the PRC with a degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign affairs and defence. For instance, the International Olympic Committee recognises Hong Kong as a participating dependency under the name, Hong Kong, China, separate from the delegation from the China. The Basic Law, Hong Kongs constitutional document, was approved in March 1990 by National Peoples Congress of China, the Hong Kong government is economically liberal, but currently universal suffrage is only granted in District Council elections, and in elections for part of the Legislative Council. The head of the government is elected through a college with the majority of its members elected by a limited number of voters mainly within business. The Executive Council, the top policy organ of the government that advises on policy matters, is entirely appointed by the Chief Executive. The franchise for the other 30 seats is limited to about 230,000 voters in the functional constituencies. The Judiciary consists of a series of courts, of which the court of final adjudication is the Court of Final Appeal and this caused widespread concerns among the public on the social and economic consequences. The NPCSC issued an interpretation in favour of the Hong Kong Government in June 1999, while the full powers of NPCSC to interpret the Basic Law is provided for in the Basic Law itself, some critics argues this undermines judicial independence. The Hong Kong 1 July March is an annual protest rally led by the Civil Human Rights Front since the 1997 handover on the HKSAR establishment day, however, it was only in 2003 when it drew large public attention by opposing the bill of the Article 23. In 2003, the HKSAR Government proposed to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law by legislating against acts such as treason, subversion, secession and sedition. However, there were concerns that the legislation would infringe human rights by introducing the concept of national security into the HKSAR. Together with the dissatisfaction with the Tung administration, about 500,000 people participated in this protest. Article 23 enactment was temporarily suspended, towards the end of 2003, the focus of political controversy shifted to the dispute of how subsequent Chief Executives get elected. The Basic Laws Article 45 stipulates that the goal is universal suffrage. Under the Basic Law, electoral law could be amended to allow for this as soon as 2007, arguments over this issue seemed to be responsible for a series of Mainland Chinese newspapers commentaries in February 2004 which stated that power over Hong Kong was only fit for patriots. On 26 April 2004, the Standing Committee of National Peoples Congress denied the possibility of universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008, in 2007 Chief Executive Sir Donald Tsang requested for Beijing to allow direct elections for the Chief Executive
2.
Government of Hong Kong
–
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly the Hong Kong Government or simplified as GovHK, refers to the executive authorities of the Hong Kong SAR. The Government is formally led by the Chief Executive of the SAR, the Government Secretariat is headed by the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, who is the most senior principal official of the Government. Under the one country, two systems principle, the Government is exclusively in charge of Hong Kongs internal affairs. The Government of the Peoples Republic of China, of which the Hong Kong government is financially independent, is responsible for Hong Kongs defence, the Chief Executive is the head of Region and head of government of Hong Kong. The Basic Law designates a system of governance led by a Chief Executive and an Executive Council, with a system of semi-representative government. The Chief Executive is elected by an Election Committee, an 1200-member electoral college consisting of individuals, the winner is then appointed to the position by the Premier of the Peoples Republic of China. The Chief Executive is responsible for implementing the Basic Law, signing bills and budgets, promulgating laws, making decisions on government policies and he is assisted in policy making by the Executive Council. As of 1 July 1997, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong officially replaced the Governor of Hong Kong as the head of the government for Hong Kong following the transfer of sovereignty. The Chief Executive is assisted by the Chief Secretary for Administration and the Financial Secretary, the secretaries for each government affairs are appointed by the Chief Executive and endorsed by the Central Peoples Government. The Secretary for Justice is responsible for matters of the government. The Independent Commission Against Corruption and Audit Commission report directly to the Chief Executive, the current Chief Executive is Leung Chun-ying. The Executive Council decides on matters of policy, the introduction of bills to the Legislative Council, the Council consists of 15 principal officials and 14 non-official members. All members are appointed by the Chief Executive from among the officials of the executive authorities, members of the Legislative Council. They serve for a no longer than the expiry of the Chief Executives term of office. The system was portrayed as the key to solve administrative problems. Under the new system, there are 3 Secretaries of Department and 13 Directors of Bureau, the system is aimed at raising the accountability of the civil service, so the political appointees are responsible for all their job aspects and will step down if they make any failure. Under the new system, all heads of bureaux became members of the Executive Council, the government released a report on the Further Development of the Political Appointment System on 17 October 2007. Two new layers, Deputy Directors of Bureaux and Assistants to Directors would be added to the political appointments, as with the principal officials, these two new posts may be drawn from within or outside the civil service, and appointees may or may not have a political background
3.
Hong Kong Basic Law
–
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China is the constitutional document of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Being a national law of the Peoples Republic of China, the Basic Law was adopted on 4 April 1990 by the Seventh National Peoples Congress, the Basic Law was drafted according to the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed between the Chinese and British governments on 19 December 1984. The Basic Law stipulates the basic policies of China towards the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as stipulated in the Joint Declaration and following the one country, two systems principle, socialism practised in the PRC would not be extended to Hong Kong. Instead, Hong Kong would continue its capitalist system and way of life for 50 years after 1997, the courts of Hong Kong are given the power to review acts of the executive or legislature and declare them invalid if they are inconsistent with the Basic Law. The argument is relevant in that it affects the level of authority that the PRC has in making any changes to the Basic Law and it is also essential in determining the Hong Kong courts jurisdiction in issues related to the PRC domestic legislations. The Basic Law was drafted by a committee members from both Hong Kong and the Mainland. The committee was known as the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law, a Basic Law Consultative Committee formed of Hong Kong people was established in 1985 to canvass views in Hong Kong on the drafts. The first draft was published in April 1988, followed by a public consultation exercise. The second draft was published in February 1989, and the subsequent consultation period ended in October 1989, the Basic Law was formally promulgated on 4 April 1990 by the National Peoples Congress, together with the designs for the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem of the HKSAR. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is part of the Peoples Republic of China, the region has a high degree of autonomy and enjoys executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication. This means that the former judicial recourse by appealing to the United Kingdoms Judicial Committee of the Privy Council would no longer be available, instead, the Court of Final Appeal was established within the HKSAR to take up the role. The socialist system and policies shall not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall protect the right of ownership of private property in accordance with law. The laws in force in Hong Kong shall be the Basic Law, the laws previously in force in Hong Kong as provided by Article 8, National laws shall not be applied in Hong Kong unless listed in Annex III and applied locally by promulgation or legislation. All Hong Kong residents shall be equal before the law, permanent residents of the HKSAR shall have the right to vote and the right to stand for election in accordance with law. The freedom of the person of Hong Kong residents shall be inviolable, no Hong Kong resident shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful arrest, detention or imprisonment. Arbitrary or unlawful search of the body of any resident or deprivation or restriction of the freedom of the person shall be prohibited, torture of any resident or arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of the life of any resident shall be prohibited. The selection of Chief Executive and members of legislature is to be ultimately by means of universal suffrage, the HKSAR may also, using the name Hong Kong, China, participate in international organisations and conferences not limited to states. The basic principles on interpreting the Basic Law is set out in Article 158, according to Article 158, the power of final interpretation of the Basic Law is vested in the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress
4.
Human rights in Hong Kong
–
Human rights protection is enshrined in the Basic Law and its Bill of Rights Ordinance. By virtue of the Bill of Rights Ordinance and Basic Law Article 39, any legislation that is inconsistent with the Basic Law can be set aside by the courts. In general, Hong Kong is perceived to enjoy a level of civil liberties. The Hong Kong government generally respects the rights of the citizens. There are concerns over the freedom of assembly which is restricted by the Public Order Ordinance, the police has been occasionally accused of using heavy-handed tactics towards protestors and questions are asked towards the extensive powers of the police. As to the right of privacy, covert surveillance remains the major concern, there is a lack of protection for homosexuals due to the absence of a sexual orientation discrimination law. There are also comments regarding a lack of protection for labour rights, Human rights in Hong Kong occasionally comes under the spotlight of the international community because of its world city status. Alleged human rights violations are sometimes used by skeptics to argue that the “One Country, the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, enacted in 1991, is the local adaptation of the provisions of the ICCPR. After the change of sovereignty, certain provisions of the Bill of Rights Ordinance ceased to have effect, including section 2, section 3, section 3 etc. However, due to the entrenchment of the ICCPR in Article 39 of the Basic Law, the significance of the Bill of Rights Ordinance, while some Basic Law rights overlap with the rights in the Bill of Rights Ordinance, they are not exactly identical. Article 11 of the Basic Law provides that no law enacted by the Legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall contravene this Law and this Article has the effect that any Ordinance that contravenes the Basic Law shall be null and void. Hence, any legislation that contravenes Article 39 of the Basic Law and it is well established that the Hong Kong Courts can conduct the Marbury v. Madison type of judicial review to review the legislative and executive acts of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This power exists before the handover since Hong Kong was governed by the Letters Patent, the Court of Final Appeal stated in Ng Ka Ling that the courts do have such a power. However, this declaration provoked heavy criticisms from the mainland authorities, the right to life is protected under Article 28 of the Basic Law and Article 2 of the Bill of Rights. In practice, the right to life is protected by the criminal law. No capital punishment has been carried out since 1966 and it has been abolished for all crimes in 1993. The freedom of expression is protected under Article 27 of the Basic Law, during a demonstration on 1 January 1998, civil activists Ng Kung Siu and Lee Kin Yun extensively defaced the National and Regional Flags. Certain portions were cut out or torn, black ink was daubed over the flags, black crosses were drawn, the constitutionality of section 7 of the National Flag Ordinance and section 7 of the Regional Flag Ordinance were challenged by the defendants
5.
Chief Executive of Hong Kong
–
The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the head and representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the Governor of Hong Kong, the office, stipulated by the Hong Kong Basic Law, formally came into being on 1 July 1997 when the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the Peoples Republic of China. The Chief Executive holds the title The Honourable, and ranks first in the Hong Kong order of precedence, the current Chief Executive is Leung Chun-ying who took office on 1 July 2012. The official residence of the Chief Executive is Government House in Central, according to Article 44 of the Basic Law, the Chief Executive must be a Chinese citizen as defined by the HKSAR Passports Ordinance. Article 47 further requires that the Chief Executive be a person of integrity, in addition, since the 4th Chief Executive term, candidates may not stand for selection by the Election Committee without first obtaining 150 nominations from its members. In the first election of the Chief Executive, the Committee consisted of only 400 members and it was expanded to 800 for the second term. The functional constituencies correspond to various sectors of the economy and society, the elected Chief Executive must be appointed by the Premier of the Central Peoples Government before taking office. According to Article 46 the term of office of the Chief Executive is five years with a maximum of two consecutive terms, if a vacancy occurs mid-term, the new Chief Executives first term is for the remainder of the previous Chief Executives term only. The method of selecting the Chief Executive is provided under Article 45 and Annex I of the Basic Law, under the Basic Law the Chief Executive is the chief representative of the people of Hong Kong and is the head of the government of Hong Kong. The position is responsible for the policy address made to the public. The CEs powers and functions are established by Article 48 of the Basic Law, the Executive Council of Hong Kong is an organ for assisting the Chief Executive in policy-making. The council is consulted before making important policy decisions, introducing bills to the Legislative Council, Article 52 stipulates circumstances under which the Chief Executive must resign. Examples include the loss of ability to discharge his or her duties or refusal to sign a bill passed by a majority of the Legislative Council. The acting and succession line is spelled out in Article 53, in case the position becomes vacant, a new Chief Executive would have to be elected. The provisions of inability to exercise the powers come into force, prior to the handover in 1997, the office of the Chief Executive-designate was at the 7th floor of the Asia Pacific Finance Tower. When Tung Chee-hwa assumed duty on 1 July 1997, the office of the Chief Executive was located at the 5th floor of the Former Central Government Offices, in the past the governor had his office at Government House. Tung did not use Government House as the residence because he lived at his own residence at Grenville House. Donald Tsang decided to return to the renovated Government House during his first term, in 2011, the office of the Chief Executive moved to the low block of the new Central Government Complex in Tamar
6.
Carrie Lam
–
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, GBM, GBS, JP is the Chief Executive-designate of Hong Kong, after winning the 2017 Chief Executive election. Before that she was the Chief Secretary for Administration, the most senior rank of principal officials of Hong Kong, after graduating from the University of Hong Kong, Lam joined the civil service in 1980 and has served in various bureaux and departments. She became an official in 2007, when she was appointed Secretary for Development. During her service, she earned the reputation as a fighter from her handling of the demolition of the Queens Pier. She became the Chief Secretary under the Leung Chun-ying administration in 2012 and she headed the Task Force on Constitutional Development on the political reform from 2013 to 2015 and held talks with the student leaders during the large-scale occupation protests in 2014. Born Cheng Yuet-ngor to a family of Zhoushan ancestry in Hong Kong. After graduation, Lam attended the University of Hong Kong majoring in social work and she organised exchange trips to Tsinghua University. Through her student activism, she came to know Lee Wing-tat, to better understand society and participate more actively in student activities, she switched her course of study from social work to sociology after the first year to avoid placements. Lam eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences in 1980, in 1982, the Hong Kong Government funded her pursuit of studies at Cambridge University where she met her future husband mathematician Lam Siu-por. Lam joined the Administrative Service in 1980 after she graduated from the University of Hong Kong and she has served in various bureaux and departments, spending about seven years in the Finance Bureau which involved in budgetary planning and expenditure control. She worked initially as Principal Assistant Secretary and subsequently as Deputy Secretary for the Treasury in the 1990s, in 2000, Lam was promoted as the Director of Social Welfare Department during the period of high unemployment and severe fiscal deficits in Hong Kong. She tightened the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme and making it only to people who had lived in Hong Kong for more than seven years. In November 2003, Lam was appointed Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands and she was soon appointed Director-General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London in September 2004. On 8 March 2006, Lam returned to Hong Kong to take up the position as Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs and she was involved in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics Equestrian Events and the West Kowloon Cultural District plan. On 1 July 2007, Lam left the service when she was appointed Secretary for Development by Chief Executive Donald Tsang, becoming one of the principal officials. In July 2007, she attended a forum at Queens Pier in a bid to persuade the protesters to disperse. She firmly repeated the position that it was not an option to retain the pier. Her handling of the pier conflict earned her a reputation as a fighter by the then Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael Hui
7.
Chief Secretary for Administration
–
The Chief Secretary for Administration, commonly known as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, is the most senior principal official of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The office also exercises certain statutory functions, such as the handling of appeals from designated public bodies, prior to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, the office was known simply as Chief Secretary, and before 1976, Colonial Secretary. Until the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System in 2002, the Chief Secretary was a civil position, and in this capacity. In 2005, Henry Tang became the first person who has not been a servant to be appointed to the office of the Chief Secretary. From the 1870s to 1902 the Colonial Secretary was de facto Lieutenant Governor of Hong Kong, the role was once held by the Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong. After 1902 the title disappeared from use as the second highest post was transferred to the Colonial Secretary and late Chief Secretary. Political party, Nonpartisan The Chief Secretary resides at a residence at 15 Barker Road, The Peak, Hong Kong. Appendix II, Colonial Secretaries of Hong Kong, 1843–1912, the Life and Times of Sir Kai Ho Kai, A Prominent Figure in Nineteenth-Century Hong Kong. Specific Official website Organisation chart of Hong Kong Government
8.
Financial Secretary (Hong Kong)
–
The Financial Secretary is the title held by the Hong Kong government minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. The position is among the three most senior Principal Officials of the Government, second only to the Chief Secretary in the order of precedence, the position evolved out of the office of the Colonial Treasurer before 1940. The Financial Secretary is a member of the Executive Council, and he is also responsible for delivering the annual budget to the Legislative Council. To date, it is the only office among the three highest Principal Officials of the Government not to have been occupied by a woman, the incumbent Financial Secretary is Paul Chan Mo-po. Edward Elmslie, 1842–1843 Charles Edward Stewart, 1843–1844 Political party and it is listed as a grade 2 building. Described as a two-story neo-Georgian style residence built in 1935 and originally owned by Sir Shouson Chow as his own residence, the first Financial Secretary who moved into the building was Sir Charles Geoffrey Shield Follows
9.
Paul Chan Mo-po
–
Paul Chan Mo-po, GBS, MH, JP is the current Financial Secretary of Hong Kong and former Secretary for Development of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and he is an accountant and the former President of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He holds BBA and MBA degrees from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and he has also studied at the Harvard Business School. Chan is the eldest of a family of four, grew up in a resettlement estate that his family lived in until a fire destroyed Shek Kip Mei in 1953, Chan was admitted to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he graduated with an accounting degree. At one time, he worked by day in the Inland Revenue and he later set up his own accounting firm. He is an accountant who holds BBA and MBA degrees from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and has studied at the Harvard Business School. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and he resigned from the Legislative Council on the same day. He is married to Frieda Hui, and the couple have a son, as Development Secretary, Paul Chan is responsible for the Buildings Department, whose mission includes dealing with illegal structures. Chan soon became embroiled in a scandal when his wife, Frieda Hui, Chan denied any knowledge of the subdivided properties and said that in any event he ceased to be a director of the company holding the properties in 1997. After having been served rectification notices by the Building Department, Chan was quoted as saying that tenants partitioned the properties in breach of their leases. Ming Pao subsequently revealed that, between 1994 and 1996, Harvest Charm Development acquired a total of 10 old flats in Tai Kok Tsui, five of these properties were shown to have been subdivided. Ming Pao said that Chan must restore public confidence in him by coming up with some convincing evidence that he has no intention to deceive the public, the convenor of the Executive Council also questioned Chans credibility and the impact of the unfolding scandal on the credibility of the government. Chan was responsible for pushing the project through, and was accused of conflict of interest, an editorial in The Standard noted that, with the exception of Regina Ip, all other pro-establishment figures either remained silent or distanced themselves from Chan over the matter. Chans signature appears on the purchase agreement for 20,000 square feet plot of farmland near Sheung Shui. The deal was finalised by a company in which his wife held shares, Chan said that the land was acquired in 1994 at a cost of HK$350,000 for the familys leisure use. Paul Chan, claiming to be the owner of a piece of land, collected rent in 1996, Chan signed it with a company chop of Statement Industries Ltd. Chan claimed not to remember whether he held out to being the owner of the land. Chan said he informed Chief Executive CY Leung of the purchase when he became aware of the plan to develop a new town in September 2012. His wife then sold her 37.5 percent stake to her family the next month, Executive council members are not required to declare interests of their spouses or family
10.
Secretary for Justice (Hong Kong)
–
Before the end of British rule in 1997, the position was known as the Attorney-General of Hong Kong. The Secretary for Justice, after the Chief Secretary and the Financial Secretary, is one of the three highest Principal Officials of the Government, the Secretary for Justice belongs to the Policy Committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary, and is normally a member of the Executive Council. The current Secretary for Justice is Rimsky Yuen, SC, the Secretary for Justice ranks fifth in the Hong Kong order of precedence. The Secretary of Justice has a residence at 19 Severn Road. Before the 1997 handover to China, the position was known as the Attorney General, the office of the Attorney General was never localized during British rule and no Hong Kong Chinese ever held this key post
11.
Hong Kong Civil Service
–
The Hong Kong Civil Service is managed by 13 policy bureaux in the Government Secretariat, and 67 departments and agencies, mostly staffed by civil servants. The Secretary for the Civil Service is one of the Principal Officials appointed under the Accountability System and his primary role is to ensure that the civil service serves the best interests of the community and delivers various services in a trustworthy, efficient and cost effective manner. Appointments to the service are based on open and fair competition. Candidates have to go through competitive appointment processes and are appointed only if they possess the qualifications, vacancies can be filled by promotion from within the service. In the case of basic ranks or where promotion is not possible or where there is a special need, to achieve the aim of a civil service which is biliterate and trilingual, language proficiency in Chinese and English is also required. In accordance with the Basic Law, new recruits appointed on or after July 1,1997 must be permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, officers are promoted on the criteria of character, ability, experience and prescribed qualifications. All eligible officers are considered on an equal basis, the officer selected for promotion must be the most meritorious one who is able and ready to perform duties at a higher rank. The commission is an independent statutory body responsible for advising the CE on civil service appointment, promotion, in practice, the advice is rendered to the SCS and the CSB deals with the commission on individual cases. The chairman and members of the commission are appointed by the CE, the commission seeks to ensure the impartiality and fairness in appointments to the civil service and also advises on discipline matters. In accordance with the Public Service Commission Ordinance, advice of the commission has to be sought for appointment or promotion of officers to middle, the commission is also consulted on changes in appointment procedures applicable to civil service posts. Three independent bodies advise the Government on matters relating to pay and their members are selected from outside the Government. The Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service advises on matters affecting the directorate, in 2003, the CSB embarked on an exercise to develop an improved civil service pay adjustment mechanism for long-term adoption in the civil service. The exercise has stemmed from the recommendations arising from the Review of Civil Service Pay Policy, the field work of the pay level survey was to be carried out on the basis of April 2005 private sector pay, but implementation was delayed a year. Apart from salaries, civil servants are eligible for various benefits depending on their terms of appointment, rank, salary point, length of service. Proactive steps have been taken over the years to modernise the provision of benefits to civil servants. The payment of many fringe benefit type of allowances has been either ceased or tightened up for new recruits offered appointment on or after June 1,2000 to reflect present day circumstances. Training and development programmes are designed to enhance performance and to support the core values of the civil service. Job-related training is arranged by departments while induction and grade specific management training for general grade members are in general provided by respective grade management, full-time and part-time courses are provided, either locally or overseas, for staff to obtain the requisite knowledge
12.
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
–
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the unicameral parliamentary legislature of the Hong Kong special administrative region of the Peoples Republic of China. Under the constitutional reform package passed in 2010, there are five District Council new functional constituencies nominated by the District Councillors, the Legislative Council was first established in 1843 under the Charter of the Colony of Hong Kong as an advisory council to the Governor. The powers and functions of the legislature expanded throughout its history, the PLC ceased to exist and was replaced after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July 1997. Article 68 of the Hong Kong Basic Law states the aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. Together with the article for Chief Executive, The articles have made universal suffrage of the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule, the Council had four Official members including the Governor who was President and Member when it was first established. The Letters Patent of 1888, which replaced the 1843 Charter, added the significant words, the first ever elections to the Council were held in 1985, following by the first direct elections of the Legislative Council were held in 1991. The Legislative Council became an elected legislature for the first time in 1995. The Peoples Republic of China government did not agree with reforms to the Legislative Council enacted in 1994, instead, the Chinese government resolved to set up an alternative legislative council in preparation for the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from Britain to China. The Provisional Legislative Council, in operation from 25 January 1997 to 30 June 1998, the Legislative Council of the HKSAR was established on 1 October 1998 under The Basic Law of the HKSAR. The first meeting of the Council was held in July of the year in Hong Kong. Since the Basic Law came into effect, five Legislative Council elections have been held, the most recent constitutional reform proposal, which suggested the electoral method of the Legislative Council remained unchanged, was vetoed in 2015. The first meetings of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, from 1844 to 1846, were convened in the residence of Governor Pottinger. In 1985, LegCo moved down to the nearby Old Supreme Court building in Central Hong Kong where it remained until November 2011 and it took up residence in its present accommodation at the Legislative Block of the Central Government Complex, Tamar in December 2011. Unlike many other former and 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 it represents the authority and powers of the court. The high block, which will be named as the Office Block, mainly houses offices for members, officially opened on 1 August 2011, administrative staff had already taken occupation on 15 January 2011. The Legislative Council consists of 70 elected members, the term of office of a member is four years, except for the first term when it was set to be two years. In both the 2008 and 2004 elections,30 members were elected by universal suffrage from geographical constituencies and 30 were elected from functional constituencies
13.
President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
–
The President of the Legislative Council is the speaker of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. From the establishment of the council in 1843 to 1993, the President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong was the Governor, in 1991, a Deputy President, Sir John Joseph Swaine, was appointed by the governor from among the members to chair the sittings. The governor remained president and member, but systematically absented himself from most of the sittings, in February 1993, the governor ceased to be member and president of the council. The presidency was handed over to an elected from among the unofficial members. Under the Article 66 to 79 in the Basic Law, the Legislative Council Commission Ordinance Cap,443, the Legislative Council Ordinance Cap. In the absence of the President, the chairman of the House Committee serves as deputy to the President, the President determines the day and hours of the meetings. He or she may change agenda, suspend a meeting, and call a special meeting, the President shall call emergency meetings at the request of the Chief Executive. The President is responsible for the observance of the rules of order in the Legislative Council and he or she is the representative of the Legislative Council on ceremonial and formal occasions. Before 1993, the Legislative Council was presided by the Governor of Hong Kong, from 25 December 1941 to 30 August 1945, the office was suspended due to Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong. The representative advisory bodies during the time were Chinese Representative Council, before 1993, the Legislative Council was presided by the Governor of Hong Kong. The President was elected among members of the Legislative Council since 1993 家after the last Governor Chris Patten gave up the power of presidency. Politiical party, Nonpartisan Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai Politiical party, Nonpartisan Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong
14.
Andrew Leung
–
Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, GBS, MBE, JP is the current President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing the Industrial functional constituency. During October 2012 to October 2016, he was the chairman of the pro-business Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, Leung was born on 24 February 1951 to a business family who run a textile factory, the Sun Hing knitting company. He was educated in the University of Leeds and joined his fathers family, in 1970, he set up the Sun Hing Knitting Factory in Kwai Chung and became the chairman of the company. Leung joined the Hong Kong Woollen & Synthetic Knitting Manufacturers Association and he has been the Chairman and Honorary Chairman of the Textile Council of Hong Kong and the member, Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries. He stepped down in 2004 after he was elected to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and he was awarded Justice of the Peace in 1996 and Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the textile industry in 1997. Leung was also the member of 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He received the Silver Bauhinia Star and the Gold Bauhinia Star in 2004 and 2010 respectively, Leung said the campaign would threaten the rule of law and social stability, while hurting Hong Kong’s business environment. As a result, Leung received 38 votes against pro-democrat nominee James Tos zero with three blank ballots, Leung and Yau inserted their own words into the oath-taking on the first session of the Legislative Council and therefore were invalidated by the LegCo secretary-general Kenneth Chen. The pan-democracy camp criticised Leung for unfit to perform his role, Federation of Hong Kong Industries Industrial Official site of Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen
15.
Judiciary of Hong Kong
–
The Judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the judicial branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Under the Basic Law of Hong Kong, it exercises the power of the Region and is independent of the executive and legislative branches of the Government. The courts in Hong Kong hear and adjudicate all prosecutions and civil disputes, including all public and it is fundamental to the Hong Kong legal system that members of the judiciary are independent of the executive and legislative branches. The courts of law in Hong Kong comprise the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court, the District Court, the Magistrates Courts, the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal is head of the judiciary and assisted in his administrative duties by the Judiciary Administrator. A bilingual court system in which Chinese, English or both can be used was put in place, in accordance with the requirement of the Basic Law. It was established on 1 July 1997 upon the commencement of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance to safeguard the rule of law after 30 June 1997, there is a panel of eight non-permanent Hong Kong judges and nine non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions. The High Court was established by the High Court Ordinance, as the Supreme Court of Hong Kong and it was renamed the High Court by Article 81 of the Basic law of Hong Kong. It also makes rulings on questions of law referred to it by the lower courts, there are 10 Justices of Appeal, including the Chief Judge of the High Court and three Vice-Presidents. It has unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. It also exercises jurisdiction in admiralty, bankruptcy, company winding-up, family, adoption, probate, there are approximately 42 Judges and Deputy Judges of the Court of First Instance. The District Court, established in 1953, is the court of Hong Kong. It has limited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. In its criminal jurisdiction, the court may try the more serious cases, with the exceptions of murder, manslaughter. The maximum term of imprisonment it may impose is seven years, there are one Chief District Judge and 30 District Judges, among which three District Judges sit in the Family Court and two District Judges sit in the Lands Tribunal as Presiding Officers. Magistrates exercise criminal jurisdiction over a range of offences. There are approximately 70 Magistrates, sitting in various Tribunals and seven Magistrates Courts, Eastern, Kowloon City, Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin, Fanling, a Principal Magistrate is in charge of each magistracy. The Chief Magistrate, whose chamber is at the Kowloon City Law Courts Building, the most junior judicial role is that of Special Magistrate, typically dealing only with minor offences such as hawking contraventions, traffic offences and other departmental summonses. Appeals against Magistrates’ decisions are heard by a Judge of the Court of First Instance, the Juvenile Court has jurisdiction to hear charges against children and young persons for any offence other than homicide
16.
Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong)
–
The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal is the final appellate court of Hong Kong. Before 1 July 1997, Hong Kong was a British Dependent Territory, the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the Peoples Republic of China on 1 July 1997. Based on one country, two systems principle, Hong Kong remains its highly autonomous power and maintains its own legal system, the Court of Final Appeal was thereby established in Central, Hong Kong. Since then, it serves as the court of last resort, under the Basic Law, the constitutional document of Hong Kong, the special administrative region remains a common law jurisdiction. Judges from other common law jurisdictions can be recruited and serve in the judiciary as non-permanent judges according to Article 92 of the Basic Law, judges appointed pursuant to Article 92 have served in the judiciaries of England and Wales, Australia or New Zealand. Article 158 delegates such power to the courts of Hong Kong for interpretation while handling court cases, although this arrangement has attracted criticism of undermining judicial independence, an interpretation by the NPCSC does not affect any court judgments already rendered. Controversy regarding this power of interpretation arose in the right of issue in 1999. From its inception until September 2015, the court was located in the Former French Mission Building, in September 2015 the court relocated to the former Legislative Council Building, which was originally the colonial Supreme Court
17.
Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal
–
The Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal is the head of the Judiciary of Hong Kong and the chief judge of the Court of Final Appeal. The Chief Justice is one of four permanent members of the Court, during British rule between 1843 and 1997, the office was known as the Chief Justice of Hong Kong. The office of Chief Justice is second only to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in the Hong Kong order of precedence. In the case of an impeachment of a Chief Executive of Hong Kong, the first Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal was Andrew Li. The second and incumbent Chief Justice is Geoffrey Ma, the Court of Final Appeal is headed by the Chief Justice and comprises three permanent judges and a panel of non-permanent judges. As of December 2008, there are 16 non-permanent judges, six from Hong Kong, the Chief Justice is the President of the CFA. Where he is not available to hear an appeal for any cause, attached to the Court of Final Appeal is a Registrar. S. Subsequently, Mr KWANG Cheok-Weung, Simon is now listed as one of the Judges, the Chief Justice resides at the Chief Justices House at 19 Gough Hill Road, The Peak. It is also known as Clavadel and was built in 1893
18.
High Court (Hong Kong)
–
It was named the Supreme Court before 1997. Though previously named the Supreme Court, this Court has long been the equivalent to the Senior Courts of England. SC Ms Linda CHAN Ching-fan, SC Mr Robert John WHITEHEAD, SC The High Court Building is located at 38 Queensway, the 20-storey building was built in 1985 as the home of the then Supreme Court of Hong Kong, which was renamed in 1997. It was named the Supreme Court Building, and the leading to its main entrance is still named Supreme Court Road. The High Court Building was designed by Architect K. M. Tseng, the structure is a white clad tower and has a water fountain outside its front door. Hong Kong Judiciary website, High Court page Judiciary of Hong Kong Legal system of Hong Kong Supreme Court of Hong Kong Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
19.
Districts of Hong Kong
–
The Districts of Hong Kong are the 18 political areas by which Hong Kong is geographically divided. Each district has a council, formerly district boards, for which the districts were established in 1982. However, the districts have limited relevance to the population, as few public services according to district boundaries. The police, fire services, health services and hospital authority, however major departments, such as the Education Bureau, do provide information based on district. In the 1860s, residents speaking the dialects were often grouped together. Merchants often travelled together as guilds and sold common goods across different areas, organizations such as Nam Pak Hong, Tung Wah Hospital Committee and District Watch Committee often cut across any native district lines. The concept of separation only became important around 1870, when cultural conflicts increased between coolies, Chinese and the British. One of the first legal attempt to control districts came in 1888 under the European District Reservation Ordinance, the first Town Planning Ordinance did not appear until 1939. The District Administration Scheme was implemented in 1982 with the establishment of a district board, from 1 July 1997 to 31 December 1999, the former district boards were replaced by provisional district boards. The provisional district boards were in turn replaced on 1 January 2000, there have been two major changes on district divisions since their implementation in 1982, Kwai Tsing District was split off from Tsuen Wan District in 1985. Yau Tsim District and Mong Kok District merged to become Yau Tsim Mong District in 1994, the population density per district varies from 783 to 52,123 per km2. Before the combination of Mong Kok and Yau Tsim districts in 1995, the following figures come from the 2006 Population By-census. Note that the median monthly per capita income is deduced from the median monthly domestic household income, the domestic household size. It promotes the concept of building management and works closely with other government departments to consistently improve the standard of building management in Hong Kong. It monitors the provision of new services and identifies measures to meet the needs of new arrivals. These responsibilities are discharged primarily through the 18 district offices covering the whole of Hong Kong, as head of each district office, the district officer is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government at the district level. He has the responsibility of overseeing directly the operation of the District Administration Scheme in the district, in addition, he is required to maintain close liaison with different sectors of the community and reflect their concerns and problems to the Government. It is his duty to ensure that problems are resolved promptly through inter-departmental consultation and co-operation
20.
District Councils of Hong Kong
–
The District Councils, formerly District Boards until 1999, are the local councils for the 18 Districts of Hong Kong. Under the supervision of Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong Government, administration, an early basis for the delivery of local services were the Kaifong associations, set up in 1949. An aim was also to monitor the grass roots, following the 1967 riots, under the Community Involvement Plan, launched in the early 1970s, Hong Kong and Kowloon were divided into 74 areas, each of around 45,000 people. The initial purpose was to implement the Clean Hong Kong campaign. A next stage in the effort to increase local engagement and influence was the setting up, in June 1973. These were described in Legco as a group of citizens, resident in the same multi-storey building who work together to solve common problems of cleanliness. In fact, they were controlled by the government. With government encouragement, the number of such committees increased rapidly in private buildings. The scheme was extended to housing estates, of which 800 had MACs in 1980, as well as factories. The next development was the establishment of eight district advisory boards in the districts of the New Territories, then in 1982, under the governorship of Sir Murray MacLehose, the District Boards were established under the District Administration Scheme. At first, the boards comprised only appointed members and government officials, but from 1982, in an attempt to inject a democratic element into the Legislative Council, the government introduced a model where some legislators were elected indirectly by District Council members. Twelve legislators were returned by a college of district councillors in 1985. The practice was repeated in 1988 and 1995, the 27 ex officio seats of Rural Committees, abolished by the colonial authorities, were reinstated. The government rejected any public survey or referendum on the issue, saying that it had been studying the issue since 1997, the self-proclaimed pro-democracy camp dubbed the move a setback to the pace of democracy because it was a throwback to the colonial era. In 2010, the government proposed that five legislators be added to District Council functional constituencies, there is a district council for each of the following eighteen districts. The number in parentheses corresponds to the number shown on the map at the right, the first term began on 1 January 2000. Under the district councillor appointment system,102 district councillors out of 534 are picked by the chief executive, the remainder are democratically elected by voters in each district. In June 2010, the government announced it would make proposals on whether to scrap the system in the next Legco year, the party affiliations and politics in the Legislative Council can be echoed in the District Councils, who have sometimes been accused of slavishly supporting the government
Hong Kong portal![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
