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The next formal step is for the bill to receive its "Second Reading", at which stage the Council has the opportunity to debate the principles and objectives of the bill.
Ad Hoc Groups
Regular closed-door meetings of Unofficial Members, chaired by the Senior Member of the Legislative Council, are held each Friday afternoon to examine the new bills to be introduced, and to decide whether they need examination by special ad hoc groups, and to consider whether bills which have been introduced into the Council should be passed or amended. or after the Second Reading the bill will again be dissected, scrutinised, and possibly subjected to numerous changes in such informal ad hoc group sessions.
Either before
Ad hoc groups take into account representations from the public and meet government officials concerned, if required. If necessary a bill may be deferred until all queries, including those related to drafting a spects,
resolved. If passage of the bill is agreed, members of the group may speak during the debate on the resumption of the Second Reading and give their views on the proposals.
are
If there are provisions in the bills with which Members disagree, or on
which Members wish to seek clarification, meetings are arranged with
responsible Government
officials.
the These meetings frequently result in the redrafting of some clauses and subsequent committee stage amendments.
In addition to their work in looking at the detail of bills, ad hoc groups give a great deal of time to considering the principles behind legislative proposals. For example, a
is group
currently considering what new legislation might be appropriate to deal with the triad problem.
UMELCO Panels
In parallel with the Legislative Council system of ad hoc groups,
groups, the Office of Unofficial Members of Executive and Legislative Councils (UMELCO) has established a
and ad number of panels, both standing and Unofficial Members of both Councils may join these panels. The main aim is to consider policy rather than specific issues but they may well touch on legislative proposals when policy issues are at stake.
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