INTRODUCTION
THE ROLE OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
1.
I should like first to welcome the new members to
this Council.
They bring with them a wide and diverse
of Hong Kong's
society and economy. They have joined an organ of
Government that is constitutionally unique in its many
"oles of forum for debate, the enactment of laws and
ombudsman, accessible to the public whether to hear
complaints or give advice. The access that all
Unofficial Members of Executive and Legislative Councils
have both to officials and to confidential official
papers, in itself distinguishes them from members of any
I other legislature I have known.
knowledge of many levels and aspects
am glad that in
recent years these roles have been strengthened not
only by a large expansion of membership, but also by
the support of a strong UMELCO Office, provision of better accommodation, and allowances for members, and
that a closer scrutiny of legislation and a better
service to the public has resulted. Hong Kong owes a very great deal to the great volume of work done by Members, and to the disinterested and often unpublicised
devotion with which they do it, and I believe that
this is becoming more generally appreciated. would like to pay my tribute to this work without which the Government of Hong Kong could not be carried o
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