4 Constitution and Administration
council completed the scrutiny of 124 items, with three of them amended by resolutions of the council. The scrutiny of the remaining 17 items will continue in the 2010-2011 session. The Government moved a total of 15 motions under the positive vetting procedure to seek the council's approval to make or amend subsidiary legislation, and all were passed.
The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs moved two motions. during the 2009-2010 session to amend Annexes I and li to the Basic Law to implement proposals for the methods for selecting the Chief Executive and forming the Legislative Council in 2012. Both motions were passed. The council also passed two motions moved by the Chief Secretary for Administration under Article 73(7) of the Basic Law to endorse the appointment of the Chief Justice and three non- permanent Hong Kong judges of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in the same session.
A motion under Rule 49B(1A) of the Rules of Procedure was moved, for the first time, at the council meeting on December 9, 2009 to censure a member for misbehaviour under Article 79(7) of the Basic Law. Pursuant to Rule 49B(2A) of the Rules of Procedure, debate on this motion was adjourned, with the matter stated therein referred to an investigation committee. Debate on the motion shall resume upon the tabling of the investigation committee's report and if the motion is passed by a two-thirds majority vote of the members present, then the member concerned will be disqualified from holding office under Article 79(7) of the Basic Law.
In addition, two members' motions were passed to amend the council's Rules of Procedure during the 2009-2010 session. Another two members' motions to invoke the council's powers under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance were negatived.
Furthermore, the council debated 55 members' motions not intended to have legislative effect in the 2009-2010 session. In addition, three adjournment debates were held to discuss issues of urgent public importance or to raise issues concerning public interest to elicit replies from designated public officers.
Meeting for Urgent Business
A special meeting of the Legislative Council was held, under Rule 15(2) of the Rules of Procedure, on September 2, 2010 when the council was in recess to enable members to debate the motion entitled 'The incident of a Hong Kong tour group being taken hostage in the Philippines'.
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee consists of all members of the Legislative Council except the President. The committee's Chairman and the Deputy Chairman are elected from among its members. The committee normally meets in public on Friday afternoons to scrutinise and approve public expenditure proposals put forward by the Government. Its work includes the scrutiny of the annual Estimates presented by the Financial Secretary to the Legislative Council during the proceedings related to the Appropriation Bill, which sets out the Government's annual expenditure
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