ENG-2005 — Page 29

Constitution and Administration 3

• Receives and handles complaints from Hong Kong residents;

• If a motion initiated jointly by one-fourth of all the members of the Legislative Council charges the Chief Executive with a serious breach of law or dereliction of duty and if he or she refuses to resign, the council may, after passing a motion for investigation, give a mandate to the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal to form and chair an independent investigation committee. The committee shall be responsible for carrying out the investigation and reporting its findings to the council. If the committee considers the evidence sufficient to substantiate such charges, the council may pass a motion of impeachment by a two-thirds majority of all its members and report it to the Central People's Government for decision; and

• Summons, as required when exercising the above-mentioned powers and functions, persons concerned to testify or give evidence.

Composition

Under the Basic Law, the Legislative Council of the HKSAR is constituted by election. The election of the third term of the Legislative Council was held on September 12, 2004.

The 60 members of the third term of the Legislative Council comprise 30 members returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections and 30 members returned by functional constituencies representing various sectors of the community. The President of the Legislative Council is elected by and from members of the council.

The third term of office of the Legislative Council began on October 1, 2004, and in accordance with the Basic Law and the Legislative Council Ordinance, the term of office is four years (2004-2008).

Meetings of the Legislative Council

The Legislative Council normally meets on Wednesdays in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building to conduct its business, including tabling subsidiary legislation and other papers and reports for the council's consideration; asking questions for replies by the Government; introducing and considering bills and proposing resolutions and debating on motions concerning matters of public interest.

All Legislative Council meetings are open to the public and are conducted in Cantonese and English, and occasionally in Putonghua, with simultaneous interpretation provided. The proceedings are recorded verbatim in the Official Record of Proceedings of the Legislative Council.

During the 2004-2005 legislative session (from October 2004 to July 2005), the council held 37 meetings, four of which were devoted to the Chief Executive's Question and Answer Sessions. The council passed 20 bills and asked 609 questions and 977 supplementary questions. Altogether, 168 items of subsidiary legislation were tabled in the council for consideration through the negative vetting procedure. The scrutiny of 150 items was completed, with eight of them amended by the council