Executive Council of Hong Kong

The Executive Council of Hong Kong (Chinese: 行政會議; Chinese name before the transfer of sovereignty: 行政局) is a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ of the Government of Hong Kong.^[1] It is analogous to a cabinet or to other executive councils in the Commonwealth such as the Federal Executive Council of Australia, the Executive Council of New Zealand, and the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

The Executive Council exists to "advise" the Chief Executive in policy-making and the administration of the government. The Chief Executive acting after consultation with the Executive Council is known as the Chief Executive in Council.^[2] The Chief Executive in Council introduces bills to the Legislative Council and issue instruments known as Orders in Council, which amongst other things are used to make delegated legislation, and regulate certain public institutions. The Chief Executive in Council also hears appeals and objections under certain Ordinances.^[3]

Under the presidency of the Chief Executive, the Executive Council consists of 16 Official Members (the most senior of these being the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, head of the Government Secretariat and chair of the Policy Committee), and 14 Non-official Members (normally including leading lawmakers from pro-establishment political parties). The Council normally meets once a week. Unlike the British and Canadian Councils, legislators from the opposition are not appointed to the Executive Council.

History

The Executive Council was set up by the British Hong Kong Government. The first ex officio members were the Colonial Secretary and the Colonial Treasurer in the 1840s. The Attorney General was added in the 1850s. In 1949, the Executive Council had five ex officio members: the senior military officer (Commander of British Forces Overseas), the colonial secretary, the attorney general, the secretary for Chinese affairs and the financial secretary; the Commissioner of Labour, while an 'official' was not an ex officio member. In addition, there were six 'unofficial members': the chief manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Tai-Pan of Jardine's, a solicitor, two barristers, and a physician.^[4]

In 1994 the title 'Senior Member' or 'Senior Unofficial Member' was changed to 'Convenor', when Lydia Dunn was succeeded in the post by Rosanna Wong.^[5]

The format of the Executive Council was retained after the transfer of sovereignty in 1997 until a ministerial system (named Principal Officials Accountability System or POAS) was introduced in 2002, Tung Chee Hwa's second term of office. Since then all secretaries are political appointees and have to leave the civil service. All secretaries are appointed to the council, transforming the council effectively into a cabinet. Non-official members are minorities in the council, and are like ministers-without-portfolio. The position of convenor was abolished.

In fulfilling his election platform, Chief Executive Sir Donald Tsang appointed eight new non-official members the day after delivering his first policy address on 12 October 2005. Secretaries of bureaux would sit in meetings of the Council when the agenda was related to their portfolio, and the position of convenor was restored. It was presented as a move to re-strengthen the role of the Council as a link with the community.

Change in composition

Year	Number of Official Members exclusive of the Chief Executive	Number of Unofficial Members
1997	3	11
2002	14	5
2004	14	7
2005	14	15
2007	15	16
2008	15	15
2009	15	16
2012	15	14
2012	15	16
2013	15	14
2015	15	15
2015	16	14

Composition

The members of Executive Council are appointed by the Chief Executive from among principal officials (heads of department, informally called "ministers"), members of Legislative Council, and public figures. Their appointment and removal is decided by the Chief Executive. There is no fixed term of office, but the term of office of members cannot extend beyond the expiry of that of the Chief Executive who appoints them (Article 55 of the Basic Law).

The Council is presided over by the Chief Executive. In addition to the 16 principal officials there are 14 Unofficial members. Other than the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary and Secretary for Justice, official members only sit in meetings that are related to their portfolio.

The following list includes all members of the Executive Council in the order of precedence:

• Note: To avoid confusion, all the names on this list follow the Hong Kong convention (English name <if available>, family name, Chinese given name <if available>) for consistency.

Capacity		Members	Affiliation	Portfolio	Assumed Office	Born In	Ref
President		Leung, CYCY Leung	Nonpartisan	Chief Executive	1 July 2012	1958	[6]
Official		Lam, CarrieCarrie Lam	Nonpartisan	Chief Secretary for Administration	1 July 2012	1957
Official		Tsang, JohnJohn Tsang	Nonpartisan	Financial Secretary	1 July 2007	1951	[7]
Official		Yuen, RimskyRimsky Yuen	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Justice	1 July 2012	1964
Unofficial Convenor		Lam, Woon-kwongLam Woon-kwong	Nonpartisan		1 July 2012	1951	[8]
Unofficial		Cheng, Yiu-tongCheng Yiu-tong	FTU		1 July 2002	1951	[9]
Unofficial		Cha, LauraLaura Cha	Nonpartisan		19 October 2004	1949	[10]
Official		Cheung, AnthonyAnthony Cheung	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Transport and Housing	1 July 2012	1952
Official		Cheung, MatthewMatthew Cheung	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Labour and Welfare	1 July 2007	1951
Official		Chan, KCKC Chan	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury	1 July 2007	1957	[11]
Unofficial		Wu, AnnaAnna Wu	Nonpartisan		21 January 2009	1951	[12]
Official		So, GregoryGregory So	DAB	Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development	28 June 2011	1959
Official		Tam, RaymondRaymond Tam	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs	30 September 2011	1959
Unofficial		Li, ArthurArthur Li	Nonpartisan		1 July 2012	1945	[13]
Unofficial		Liao, AndrewAndrew Liao	Nonpartisan		1 July 2012	1949	[14]
Unofficial		Chow, Chung-kongChow Chung-kong	Nonpartisan		1 July 2012	1950	[15]
Official		Lai, Tung-kwokLai Tung-kwok	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Security	1 July 2012	1952
Unofficial		Cheung, Hok-mingCheung Hok-ming	DAB		1 July 2012	1952	[16]
Official		Ng, EddieEddie Ng	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Education	1 July 2012	1953
Unofficial		Law, FannyFanny Law	Nonpartisan		1 July 2012	1953	[17]
Official		Ko, Wing-manKo Wing-man	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Food and Health	1 July 2012	1957
Unofficial		Cheung, Chi-kongCheung Chi-kong	Nonpartisan		1 July 2012	1953	[18]
Official		Wong, Kam-singWong Kam-sing	Nonpartisan	Secretary for the Environment	1 July 2012	1963	[19]
Unofficial		Chan, BernardBernard Chan	Nonpartisan		1 July 2012	1965
Official		Chan, PaulPaul Chan	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Development	30 July 2012	1955
Unofficial		Ip, ReginaRegina Ip	NPP		17 October 2012	1950
Unofficial		Lam, JeffreyJeffrey Lam	BPA		17 October 2012	1951
Official		Yang, NicholasNicholas Yang	Nonpartisan	Secretary for Innovation and Technology	2 March 2015	1955
Official		Kong-wah, LauLau Kong-wah	DAB	Secretary for Home Affairs	21 July 2015	1957
Official		Cheung, ClementClement Cheung	Nonpartisan	Secretary for the Civil Service	21 July 2015	1962
Unofficial		Kwok-him, IpIp Kwok-him	DAB		17 March 2016	1951

Source^[20]

List of the past Executive Councils

• 1896–1941: List of Executive Council of Hong Kong unofficial members 1896–1941
• 1946–1997: List of Executive Council of Hong Kong unofficial members 1946–1997
• 1997–2002: First term of Tung Chee-hwa as Chief Executive of Hong Kong
• 2002–2005: Second term of Tung Chee-hwa as Chief Executive of Hong Kong
• 2005–2007: First term of Donald Tsang as Chief Executive of Hong Kong
• 2007–2012: Second term of Donald Tsang as Chief Executive of Hong Kong
• 2012–present: First term of CY Leung as Chief Executive of Hong Kong

Location

The Executive Council meets in the Lower Block of the Central Government Complex, Tamar. Until 2012, Exco met in the Main Wing of the Central Government Offices on Government Hill, in Central and below Government House (former residence of the British Governor of Hong Kong).

Prior to the handover, the Provisional Executive Council of Hong Kong, headed by Tung Chee Hwa, met in Shenzhen or Tung's office on the 11th floor of the Asia Pacific Finance Tower in Hong Kong. Members of the outgoing British Hong Kong ExCo were not permitted to attend this body.

Both Executive Council sittings were on Tuesdays.

See also

• Legislative Council of Hong Kong
• Politics of Hong Kong

References

1. Article 54, Hong Kong Basic Law
2. Section 3, Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1).
3. Section 64, Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1).
4. Ingrams, Harold, Hong Kong (Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London: 1952), p. 231.
5. Hong Kong's Journey to Reunification - Memoirs of Sze-yuen Chung, p307, Chinese University Press, 2001, ISBN 962-996-002-8
6. "Chief Executive – Biography". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
7. "Mr John Tsang Chun-wah, GBM, JP, Financial Secretary". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
8. "The Honourable LAM Woon-kwong, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
9. "The Honourable CHENG Yiu-tong, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
10. "The Honourable Mrs Laura CHA SHIH May-lung, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
11. "Professor K C Chan, GBS, JP, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
12. "The Honourable Anna WU Hung-yuk, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
13. "Professor the Honourable Arthur LI Kwok-cheung, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
14. "The Honourable Andrew LIAO Cheung-sing, GBS, SC, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
15. "The Honourable CHOW Chung-kong". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
16. "The Honourable CHEUNG Hok-ming, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
17. "The Honourable Mrs Fanny LAW FAN Chiu-fun, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
18. "The Honourable CHEUNG Chi-kong, BBS". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
19. "Mr Wong Kam-sing, JP, Secretary for the Environment". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
20. ExCo membership announced, 29 June 2012, HK Information Services Department

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 22°16′53″N 114°09′54″E / 22.281487°N 114.165089°E