ENG-2011 — Page 50

14 Constitution and Administration

Functional Constituency

Each functional constituency represents an economic, social or professional group important to the HKSAR. For the fourth-term Legislative Council, these are: (1) Heung Yee Kuk1; (2) agriculture and fisheries; (3) insurance; (4) transport; (5) education; (6) legal; (7) accountancy; (8) medical; (9) health services; (10) engineering; (11) architectural, surveying and planning; (12) labour; (13) social welfare; (14) real estate and construction; (15) tourism; (16) commercial (first); (17) commercial (second); (18) industrial (first); (19) industrial (second); (20) finance; (21) financial services; (22) sports, performing arts, culture and publication; (23) import and export; (24) textiles and garment; (25) wholesale and retail; (26) information technology; (27) catering; and (28) District Council (first). The labour functional constituency returns three Legislative Council members, while the other 27 functional constituencies return one member each.

The electorate of functional constituencies which represent professional groups is generally based on membership of professions with recognised qualifications, including statutory qualifications. The electorate of functional constituencies representing economic or social groups is generally made up of corporate members of major organisations representative of the relevant sectors.

To become a candidate in the functional constituencies, one must satisfy the same age and residential requirements as in a geographical constituency election, be a registered elector on the Final Register, and also a registered elector of or have a substantial connection with the relevant functional constituency. To give due recognition to the significant contribution made by foreign nationals and the fact that Hong Kong is an international city and to meet the requirement of the relevant provision in the Basic Law, permanent residents of the HKSAR who are not of Chinese nationality or who have the right of abode in foreign countries may stand for election in 12 designated functional constituencies (functional constituencies No. 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23 as above).

There will be a new District Council (second) functional constituency with five seats for the fifth-term Legislative Council. The five seats will be returned as a single constituency for the whole of Hong Kong in accordance with the proportional representation list system. Candidates must be elected District Council members who must be nominated by no less than 15 other elected District Council members. As for the electors, they are registered geographical constituency electors other than those registered in the other functional constituencies.

1

The election for the fourth-term Legislative Council was held on September 7, 2008. Over 1.52 million registered electors cast their votes on polling day, representing a turnout rate of 45.2 per cent. The election for the fifth-term Legislative Council will be held in September 2012.

A statutory advisory body on New Territories affairs.