4
the members of professional,
commercial
or other
of the 60 are elected by
special interest groups. At present, 18 members of the Legislative Council
adult suffrage in geographical constitutencies, but a further
21
are
elected
by
functional members constituencies, in which only about 3 per cent of the The Report proposes population are entitled to vote.
members
that the Legislative Council due to be elected in 1995 elected from should consist solely of
democratic franchise, geographic constituencies on a
the SAR to be elected as should the Legislature of after 1997.
The Report criticises the Joint Declaration and the
(3)
The Executive (Chapter VIII)
Basic Law for
Executive of
failing
the
democratically
elected
to require
Kong Hong
by
and
that the Chief SAR should be democratically The Report accountable to the people of Hong Kong.
will expresses concern that the proposed structure
structure, with a Chief the existing reproduce Executive appointed by Beijing replacing a appointed by London. The Report also concludes that
the
provisions
of
accountability
of
inadequate.
the
Law
Governor
Basic
relating to the Executive are confusing
the and
(4) The Judiciary (Chapters IX and X)
over the position The Report expresses great concern of the judiciary. In particular, the Report objects to the provisions of the Basic Law which reserve to the National People's Congress of the PRC (rather than to the courts of Hong Kong) the power to interpret the Basic Law and to decide whether existing laws of Hong Kong contravene it.
concludes
the that
the
maintenance is of the
of preservation
of an highest business
The Report independent judiciary after 1997 importance both for confidence and for the protection of human rights. There is an urgent need to increase the recruitment of local lawyers to the bench and reduce the dependence on expatriate judges. The Report concludes that the agreement recently arrived at between the UK and the
Liaison
on the their Joint PRC (through composition of the Court of Final Appeal is not in accordance with the Joint Declaration and the Basic
Law.
Group)