CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
Elections are normally held at three-year intervals. The Governor has power to dissolve the council; on dissolution all elected members vacate their seats and an election must be held within three months. A by-election is held should a casual vacancy arise.
The Legislative Council meets in public once a week, but takes a recess of about two months in August and September. Proceedings are bilingual; members may address the council in Chinese and English, and simultaneous interpretation is 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 members vote individually. 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 April during the second reading of the annual Appropriation Bill.
Members may also question 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
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The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council consists of the Chief Secretary (Chairman), the Financial Secretary, one official member of the council and all members other than official members. 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. Both the special and regular meetings are held in public. The Finance Committee has two sub-committees: the Establishment Sub-Committee and the Public Works Sub-Committee.
The Establishment Sub-Committee consists of 27 members of the Legislative Council, one of whom is the chairman, plus the Secretary for the Civil Service and the Secretary for the Treasury, who are the only public servants on the sub-committee. It examines in detail proposals for directorate posts, the creation of new ranks and changes in salary scales, and makes recommendations on them to the Finance Committee. It also considers reports on
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