Provisional Legislative Council

PLC Paper No. CB(3)422

Ref: CB(3)/C/2 (III)

Committee on Members ' Interests

Minutes of meeting
held on Tuesday, 25 November 1997 at 4:30 pm
in Conference Room B of the Legislative Council Building

Members present :

Hon Mrs Miriam LAU Kin-yee, JP (Chairman)
Hon NG Leung-sing
Prof Hon NG Ching-fai
Dr Hon Mrs TSO WONG Man-yin
Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung
Hon Bruce LIU Sing-lee

Member absent :

Hon LEE Kai-ming

Clerk in attendance :

Mrs Betty LEUNG

Chief Assistant Secretary (3)1

Staff in attendance :

Mr LEE Yu-sung

Senior Assistant Legal Adviser

Ms Miranda HON

Senior Assistant Secretary (3)1

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I.Election of deputy chairman

With the consent of Mr YEUNG Yiu-chung, Mrs TSO WONG Man-yin proposed and Mr Bruce LIU seconded the nomination of Mr YEUNG as deputy chairman of the Committee. With the unanimous agreement of members present, Mr YEUNG was elected deputy chairman of the Committee on Members' Interests.

(Post-meeting note: The appointment letter signed by the President was issued on 26 November 1997.)

II.Items for review
(PLC Paper No. CB(3)332(01))

(a) Definition of " political organization "

2.After discussion, members present agreed that there should be a footnote in the Guidelines on Registration of Interests stating that the meaning of the term " political organization " in item III(7) was the same as that of " political body " in the Societies Ordinance. They also agreed that a Member should be required to register particulars of cash subsidy of HK$5,000 or above received each month from his political organization.

(b)Registration of land or property owned by a Member as a nominee

3.After discussion, members present agreed that, for the sake of enhancing transparency, Members should report general information on the land or property which they owned. In this connection, members recommended that -

1. a Member should register particulars of any property which he owned other than the only residence which he owned and ordinarily lived in; and where a beneficial interest was derived from the only residence he owned, particulars of such a property should also be registered;

2. a Member should register particulars of any land or property which he owned through a company which he had control or of which he had more than 50% shares and where a beneficial interest could be derived from such land or property; and

3. a Member should register particulars of any land or property which he owned through a third person and where a beneficial interest could be derived from such land or property.

(c)Retention of the term " District Office Allowance "

4.Having noted that Members had begun to receive District Office Allowance since 1 July 1997, members present agreed that the term " District Office Allowance " should be retained.

III.Date of next meeting

5.At the suggestion of the Chairman, members present agreed that the next meeting would be convened by the Chairman to follow up on the issues in items II (a) and (b) above.

6.The meeting ended at 5:45 pm.

Provisional Legislative Council Secretariat
8 December 1997