Legislative Council of Hong Kong

For the current Legislative Council, see 5th Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
Legislative Council
of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region
香港特別行政區立法會
5th Legislative Council
Logo of the Legislative Council
Type
Type
History
Founded 1843 (1843)
Leadership
     Jasper Tsang, DAB
Since 8 October 2008
Structure
Seats 70
Political groups

Pro-Beijing (43)
     DAB (13)
     BPA (7)
     FTU (6)
     Liberal (5)
     NPP (2)
     New Forum (1)
     FLU (1)
     Independents (8)
Pan-democrats (27)
     Civic (6)
     Democratic (6)
     Labour (4)
     People Power (2)
     Prof Commons (2)
     LSD (1)
     Neo Democrats (1)
     NWSC (1)
     ADPL (1)

     Independents (3)
Elections
Last election
 9 September 2012
Next election
 4 September 2016
Meeting place
Legislative Council Complex, 1 Legislative Council Road, Central, Hong Kong
22°16′52″N 114°09′58″E / 22.281087°N 114.166127°E / 22.281087; 114.166127Coordinates: 22°16′52″N 114°09′58″E / 22.281087°N 114.166127°E / 22.281087; 114.166127
Website
legco.gov.hk
Legislative Council

Traditional Chinese 立法會
Simplified Chinese 立法会
Name before 1997
Chinese 立法局
The Legislative Council Building (1985–2011)
Central Government Offices, home to Legco 1950s to 1985
French Mission Building was home to Legco 1840s
Politics and government
of Hong Kong
Foreign relations

Related topics

Hong Kong portal

The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Chinese: 香港特別行政區立法會; LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.

The legislature is a semi-democratically elected body comprising 70 members, 35 of which are directly elected through five geographical constituencies (GCs) under the proportional representation system with largest remainder method and Hare quota, while the other 30 are indirectly elected through trade-based functional constituencies (FCs) with limited electorates. Under the constitutional reform package passed in 2010, there are five District Council (Second) new functional constituencies nominated by the District Councillors and elected by territory-wide electorates.

The Legislative Council was first established in 1843 under the Charter of the Colony of Hong Kong as an advisory council to the Governor. The powers and functions of the legislature expanded throughout the history.[1] Today the main functions of the Legislative Council are to enact, amend or repeal laws; examine and approve budgets, taxation and public expenditure; and raise questions on the work of the government. In addition, the Legislative Council is also given the power to endorse the appointment and removal of the judges of the Court of Final Appeal and the Chief Judge of the High Court, as well as the power to impeach the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.[1]

Before the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1996, a Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) was set up by the Government of the People's Republic of China as compared to the 1995 elected colonial legislature. The PLC ceased to exist and was replaced after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July 1997.

The Article 68 of the Hong Kong Basic Law states the ultimate aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. Together with the similar article for Chief Executive, The Article 68 has made universal suffrage of the Legislative Council and Chief Executive the most dominant issue in Hong Kong politics.

History

The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule. Hong Kong's first constitution,[1] in the form of Queen Victoria's Letters Patent (see Hong Kong Letters Patent), issued on 27 June 1843 and titled the Charter of the Colony of Hong Kong, authorised the establishment of the Legislative Council to advise the Governor of Hong Kong's administration. The Council had four Official members including the Governor who was President and Member when it was first established. The Letters Patent of 1888, which replaced the 1843 Charter, added the significant words "and consent" after the words "with the advice".[1] The Legislative Council was initially set up as the advisory body to the Governor, and for the most of the time, consisted half of official members, who were the government officials seating in the Council, and half of unofficial members who were appointed by the Governor.

After the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed on 19 December 1984 (in which the United Kingdom agreed to transfer the sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997), the Hong Kong government decided to start the process of democratisation based on the consultative document, Green Paper: the Further Development of Representative Government in Hong Ko