ENG-1985 — Page 37

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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

Each functional constituency represented an occupational or professional group: com- mercial; industrial; financial; labour; social services; medical; teaching; legal; and engineer- ing, architectural, surveying and planning. Of these, the commercial, industrial and labour functional constituencies returned two members each while the other six returned one member each.

The district board members of the electoral colleges were grouped into 10 geographical constituencies, consisting of one, two or three district boards, representing roughly 500 000 people. Members of the Urban Council and the Provisional Regional Council formed separate electoral colleges.

In the normal course of events, elections will be held at three-year intervals. The Governor has power to dissolve the council, and on dissolution all elected members would vacate their seats and an election would be held within three months. A by-election would be held should a casual vacancy arise.

The Legislative Council meets in public. Before October 1985 it met once a fortnight but it now meets 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. A question is put at each stage and is 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.

Both the unofficial appointed members and the elected members may also address questions to the government on public issues for which the government is responsible, either seeking information on such issues or asking for official action on them. Oral questions and answers are dealt with in the Legislative Council, 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 unofficial 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