Handling of cases received under the Redress System

The Legislative Council Redress System is a system operated by the Legislative Council to receive and handle complaints from individual members of the public and deputations who are aggrieved by government actions or policies. It also deals with public representations on government policies and legislation as well as other matters of public concern.

Members take turns, in groups of nine, to be on duty each week to oversee the Redress System and to receive and handle representations of and complaints made by deputations. During their duty week, they also take turns to undertake "ward duty" during which they meet with individual members of the public and provide guidance to staff on the processing of cases.

All requests for interviews with Members at the Public Complaints Office of the Legislative Council Secretariat must be made in advance through the Public Complaints Office. It is for Members to decide whether and when an interview should be arranged.

An interview between Duty Roster Members and a deputation will normally be arranged within 12 working days upon receipt of the detailed submission on the issues raised. For an interview between a Ward Duty Member and an individual member of the public, it will normally be arranged within one week after the Public Complaints Office has obtained the relevant background information and response from the Administration and/or the public organization(s) about the case.

• requests for legal advice or legal services
• complaints against individual members of the Legislative Council and District Councils
• private disputes
• court decisions, matters which are sub judice or could involve criminal charges, and matters relating to judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings
• complaints and matters which are handled by independent or statutory bodies (e.g. the ICAC Complaints Committee, the Independent Police Complaints Council, the Administrative Appeals Board, etc.)
• labour disputes between individual employees and employers (except those of wide public concern or relating to discrimination of trade union leaders)
• matters outside the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Enquiry

For enquiry about the Redress System or lodging of a complaint, please contact the Public Complaints Office of the Legislative Council Secretariat.

While the provision of personal data is voluntary, the Public Complaints Office of the Legislative Council Secretariat may not be able to handle the complaint if the complainant refuses to provide his/her personal data.

The information of the case may be used for compilation of statistics on the number and the nature of cases received by the Public Complaints Office or summarized in a case summary to illustrate the significant cases handled by the Public Complaints Office. Personal data will not be revealed in the outcome of the statistics or contents of the case summary.

Complainants have the right to request access to and correction of personal data in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486). A request for personal data access or correction should be made in writing, with relevant information to identify the case, to Administrative Assistant I (Complaints) at the following address:

The Legislative Council Secretariat may charge a fee for supplying copy/copies of such personal data to complainants.