- 21.
I now turn to part (a) of the question. The fundamental point here is the rule of law in Hong Kong. This applies as much to the Government as it does to any member of the public. This is what the rule of law is all about. When people want to pursue a certain course of action, they will need to satisfy themselves that their action will not be in breach of the law. As a general rule, any person can establish an office in Hong Kong provided that, in doing so, he is not in breach of the law.
Still on part (a) of the question, accountable office rental allowances are payable to members of the Legislative Council and the District Boards. The detailed arrangements are set out in administrative guidelines. For the Legislative Council, where an office is used partly for Legislative Council business and partly for other matters, the Legislative Council member concerned may only claim allowance for that portion of the office cost which relates to Legislative Council business. As necessary, the matter will be referred to the Committee on Members' Allowance under the Legislative Council for arbitration. As for the District Boards, the allowance is payable to a District Board member only if he uses his office exclusively for District Board related activities, or in conjunction with duties of the other two tiers of representative government. The allowance will cease once the eligibility criteria are
not met.
In the case of the Municipal Councils, members receive a monthly non- accountable allowance. The two Councils do not have guidelines for members on how they may use the allowance.
End