CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
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architectural, surveying and planning. Of these, the commercial, industrial and labour functional constituencies elect two members each while the other six elect one member each. For the electoral college, the 19 district boards are grouped into 10 geographical constituencies, consisting of one, two, three or four district boards, representing roughly 500 000 people. The members of the Urban Council and the Regional Council form two additional constituencies.
Elections are normally held at three-year intervals. The Governor has power to dissolve the council; on dissolution all elected members shall vacate their seats and an election shall be held within three months. A by-election is held should a casual vacancy arise.
The Legislative Council meets in public once a week. There is a recess of about two months in August and September. Proceedings are bilingual; members may address the council in Chinese and English, and facilities for simultaneous interpretation of the proceedings are provided.
Legislation is enacted in the form of Bills, which go through three readings and a committee stage. Most business, including Bills, is transacted by way of motions, which are decided by the majority of votes. If a clear majority either for or against any motion is not apparent from a voice vote, the President may order the council or the committee to proceed to a division, when votes will be taken from members individually and recorded by the Clerk to the Council. Official members are expected to vote with the government on all issues, except those where a 'free vote' is expressly permitted. Private Bills, not representing government measures and intended to benefit particular persons, associations or corporate bodies, are introduced from time to time and enacted in the same way. All Bills after passing through the Legislative Council receive the assent of the Governor and are then gazetted as ordinances.
Apart from the enactment of legislation, the business of the council includes two major debates in each legislative session: a wide-ranging debate on government policy which follows the Governor's address at the opening of the new session of the council in October each year, and the budget debate on financial and economic affairs which takes place in February and March during the second reading of the annual Appropriation Bill.
Members may also address questions to the government on policy issues for which the government is responsible, either seeking information on such issues or asking for official action on them. Members may request either oral or written answers to the questions asked, and supplementary questions for the purpose of elucidating an answer already given may also be asked.
Other business of the council includes motions on subsidiary legislation, statements and policy papers (Green Papers and White Papers) for debate. A complete record of all papers laid before the council together with a verbatim record of proceedings (Hansard) is kept in respect of each legislative session.
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council consists of the Chief Secretary (Chairman), the Financial Secretary, one other official member of the council (at present the Secretary for Lands and Works) and all the appointed and elected members of the council. It scrutinises public expenditure, both at special meetings held in March at which members examine the draft Estimates of Expenditure, and at regular meetings held throughout the year to consider requests which entail changes to the provisions agreed by the Legislative Council in the estimates each year, or to note financial implications of new policies. The special meetings have been held in public since 1984 and all regular meetings