Rules of Procedure

(1)

(2)

Where a general election is held, a Member who had previously made or subscribed an oath or affirmation under the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance (Cap. 11) shall make or subscribe the oath or affirmation again before the Member is present or votes at the election of the President, or exercises any power or function of a Member.

(1)

The order of precedence of a Member of the Council shall be determined according to the continuous period of time for which he has held office in the Council; a Member who has held office in the Council for a longer continuous period of time shall be given higher precedence.

(2)

As between two or more Members who have held office for an equal continuous period of time, precedence shall be given to the one who first made or subscribed the oath or affirmation in accordance with Rule 1 (Oath or Affirmation).

(L.N. 107 of 1999)

(1)

The President of the Council, when present at a meeting of the Council or a committee of the whole Council and able, in his opinion, to act, shall preside or be Chairman. (L.N. 187 of 2017)

(2)

• (a)
  the President's deputy; or
• (b)
  in the absence of the President's deputy from that meeting or when, in his opinion, he is unable to act, the Member who is elected by and from among the Members present in accordance with the procedure as determined by the House Committee.

(3)

The President's deputy or other Member presiding shall enjoy all those powers conferred by these Rules of Procedure on the President or Chairman that are exercisable in respect of the meeting, or part of the meeting, of the Council or a committee of the whole Council at which the President's deputy or that Member presides or is Chairman, or in respect of which the President has requested that he preside or be Chairman.

(4)

In addition to those powers mentioned in subrule (3), the President's deputy shall enjoy such of those powers conferred by these Rules of Procedure on the President or Chairman of a committee of the whole Council as the President may specify by notice in the Gazette.

(1)

Subject to subrule (2), the President shall be elected by and from among the Members of the Council in accordance with Schedule 1.

(2)

The President shall be a Chinese citizen of not less than 40 years of age, who is a permanent resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with no right of abode in any foreign country and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 20 years.

(3)

The President shall hold office until the dissolution of the Council.

(4)

The person holding the office of President immediately before a dissolution of the Council, or in his absence or inability to act, the person who was last the President's deputy, shall be deemed to be the President and shall call and preside at a meeting of the Council held for the consideration of urgent business during that dissolution and shall be Chairman at a meeting of a committee of the whole Council held in consequence of such a meeting of the Council. If both such persons are absent or unable to act, the Member who is elected by and from among the Members present, shall preside.

(1)

The chairman of the House Committee elected as such under Rule 75(2) (House Committee) shall be the President's deputy.

(2)

In the absence of the chairman of the House Committee or when, in his opinion, he is unable to act, the deputy chairman of the House Committee elected as such under Rule 75(2) (House Committee) shall act as the President's deputy.

(3)

The reference to the "chairman of the House Committee" in subrules (1) and (2) shall not include a person elected to act as chairman during the temporary absence of the chairman and deputy chairman.

(1)

The Clerk to the Legislative Council shall be responsible for advising the President on all matters relating to the procedure of the Council.

(2)

The Clerk shall be responsible for keeping the minutes of the proceedings of the Council and of committees of the whole Council. The minutes of proceedings shall record the Members attending, all decisions taken, and details of every division held.

(3)

The Clerk shall be responsible for preparing from day to day a Council Agenda Item Book showing all future business of which notice has been given. The Council Agenda Item Book shall be open to the inspection of Members and public officers acting in the course of their duties relevant to Council business at all reasonable hours.

(4)

The Clerk, acting under the directions of the President, shall be responsible for preparing for each meeting an Agenda of the Council showing the business for that meeting.

(5)

The Clerk shall be responsible for the custody of the votes, records, bills and other documents laid before the Council, which shall be open to inspection by Members and public officers acting in the course of their duties relevant to Council business at all reasonable hours, and by other persons under arrangements approved by the President.

(5A)

• (a)
  The Clerk shall conduct the review referred to in paragraph (b) of the Policy on Access to the Legislature's Documents and Records in Schedule 2 within 25 years of the existence of the document or record as to whether access should be made available at an earlier time, and shall conduct a further review of the document or record, if not already made available for public access, at least once every four years from the last review.

  (L.N. 14 of 2017)
• (b)
  The Clerk may deny access to a document or record in accordance with any guidelines set by the Committee on Access to the Legislature's Documents and Records.

  (L.N. 42 of 2014)

(6)

The Clerk, acting under the directions of the President, shall be responsible for the production of the Official Record of all proceedings in the Council and in the committee of the whole Council.

(7)

The Clerk shall be responsible for providing every committee and subcommittee of the Council with a clerk.

(8)

The Clerk shall perform the further duties laid upon him in these Rules of Procedure, and all other duties in the service of the Council ordered by the Council or directed by the President.

(1)

The Legal Adviser of the Legislative Council Secretariat shall be the Counsel to the Legislature.

(2)

The Counsel to the Legislature shall have the general duty of advising the President and the Clerk on legal questions arising in relation to the business or administration of the Council.

(a)

addressing the Council at any time as he shall think fit, including during a special meeting;

(b)

answering Members' questions put to him on the work of the Government; and

(c)

proposing any policy, measure, bill, resolution, motion or question for debate by and in the Council or any such committee or subcommittee.

(1)

Designated public officers may attend meetings of the Council, committees of the whole Council, the Finance Committee or subcommittees of the Finance Committee and to speak on behalf of the Government.

(2)

A designated public officer may give notice to the Clerk of items of business to be included in the Agenda of the Council or the agenda of the Finance Committee or a subcommittee of the Finance Committee.

(3)

Where it appears to the Clerk, when preparing the Agenda of the Council or the agenda of the Finance Committee or a subcommittee of the Finance Committee showing the business for a meeting, that a particular item of business requires the attendance of a designated public officer, the Clerk shall state, in respect of that particular item, the name of the office of that public officer.

(4)

A public officer may be invited by any other committee or subcommittee of the Council to attend the meeting of the committee or the subcommittee if circumstances so require.

(1)

The public officer whose office is stated in respect of a particular item of business in an Agenda of the Council or an agenda of the Finance Committee or a subcommittee of the Finance Committee for a meeting and a public officer who has notified the Clerk before the meeting that his attendance is required in respect of a particular item of business may attend that meeting and speak on behalf of the Government.

(2)

Provided that Rule 39 (Interruptions) shall apply to a public officer only in relation to the item of business in respect of which he attends a meeting.

(3)

Subject to Rule 9(1) (Attendance of Public Officers) and such direction as may otherwise be made by the Chief Executive, the Chief Secretary for Administration, the Financial Secretary and the Secretary for Justice may attend any meeting of the Council, committees of the whole Council and other committees and subcommittees, and when attending meetings of the Council or committees of the whole Council these Rules of Procedure, except Rules 1 (Oath or Affirmation), 3 (Presiding in Council and in Committee of the Whole Council), 8 (Attendance of the Chief Executive), 9(2) (Attendance of Public Officers), 17 (Quorum), 20 (Presentation of Petitions), and the Rules in Part J (Voting), shall apply to them as they apply to a Member.