Legislative Council

LC Paper No. CB(2)147/99-00

Ref : CB2/PL/CA

Legislative Council
Panel on Constitutional Affairs

Members Present :

Hon Andrew WONG Wang-fat, JP (Chairman)
Hon Emily LAU Wai-hing, JP (Deputy Chairman)
Hon Margaret NG
Hon Ronald ARCULLI, JP
Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong
Hon Gary CHENG Kai-nam
Hon Jasper TSANG Yok-sing, JP
Hon Howard YOUNG, JP
Hon Ambrose LAU Hon-chuen, JP
Hon SZETO Wah

Members Absent :

Hon LEE Wing-tat
Hon Ambrose CHEUNG Wing-sum, JP
Dr Hon YEUNG Sum

Clerk in Attendance :

Mrs Percy MA

Chief Assistant Secretary (2)3

Staff in Attendance :

Mrs Justina LAM

Assistant Secretary General 2

Mrs Eleanor CHOW

Senior Assistant Secretary (2)7

I. Election of Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Panel

Mr Andrew WONG invited nominations for the chairmanship of the Panel.

2. Mr Andrew WONG was nominated by Mr Ronald ARCULLI and the nomination was seconded by Ms Emily LAU. Mr Andrew WONG accepted the nomination. Ms Emily LAU took over from Mr WONG to preside over the election of the Chairman of the Panel. As there were no other nominations, Ms Emily LAU declared Mr Andrew WONG elected as Chairman.

3. The Chairman took the chair and called for nominations for the deputy chairmanship of the Panel.

4. Ms Emily LAU was nominated by Mr Ronald ARCULLI and the nomination was seconded by Miss Margaret NG. Ms Emily LAU accepted the nomination. There being no other nominations, the Chairman declared Ms Emily LAU elected as Deputy Chairman of the Panel.

II. Schedule of meetings for the 1999-2000 session

5. Members agreed that regular meetings for the 1999-2000 session would normally be held on the third Monday of each month at 2:30 pm in Conference Room A of the Legislative Council Building. As the third Monday of October was a holiday, members agreed that the next meeting would be held on the fourth Monday, 25 October 1999 at 2:30 am.

6. The Chairman reminded members that the briefing by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs (SCA) on the Chief Executive's Policy Address 1999 would be held on Thursday, 14 October 1999 at 4:30 pm.

V. Discussion items for next meeting

7. Members went through the list of issues to be considered. On the two items proposed by Members who were no longer members of the Panel, members agreed as follows -

1. Item 4 - SCA's speech made at the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations Conference on 8 June 1999 (proposed by Mr Martin LEE)

   Members agreed that SCA should be requested to clarify his remarks in writing. Mr SZETO Wah said that alternatively, Mr Martin LEE could consider raising a question seeking an oral reply at a Council meeting.

2. Item 8 - Direct elections of LegCo Members and the Chief Executive (proposed by Hon Christine LOH)

   Members agreed that the item should be deleted from the list of issues to be considered.

8. Members agreed that the following items would be discussed at the next Panel meeting to be held on 25 October 1999 -

1. Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance exercise in Government and non-government organizations;

2. Application of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap. 201) to the Chief Executive;

3. Designation of officials to attend LegCo meetings; and

4. Engagement in public offices by staff of tertiary institutions and public-funded bodies.

9. Miss Margaret NG suggested and members agreed that the Administration should be requested to brief the Panel on the channels of communication and co-operation with the Mainland authorities at a future meeting.

10. There being no other business, the meeting ended at 2:30 pm.

Legislative Council Secretariat
21 October 1999