Legislative Council of Hong Kong

Legislative Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

香港特別行政區立法會
7th Legislative Council
Logo
Type
Type
History
Founded
  • 26 June 1843 (1843-06-26) (colonial)
  • 25 January 1997 (1997-01-25) (provisional)
  • 1 July 1998 (1998-07-01) (HKSAR)
Preceded byProvisional Legislative Council
Leadership
Andrew Leung, BPA
since 12 October 2016
Structure
Seats90
Political groups
Pro-Beijing (88)
  •   DAB (19)
  •   BPA (8)
  •   FTU (7)
  •   NPP (6)
  •   Liberal (4)
  •   FEW (2)
  •   FLU (2)
  •   Roundtable (1)
  •   PP (1)
  •   KWND (1)
  •   New Prospect (1)
  •   New Forum (1)
  •   Independent (35)
Unaligned (1)
Vacant (1)
Elections
Last general election
19 December 2021
Next general election
2025
Meeting place
Legislative Council Complex, 1 Legislative Council Road, Tamar, Central & Western District, Hong Kong
Website
www.legco.gov.hk
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Traditional Chinese香港特別行政區立法會
Simplified Chinese香港特别行政区立法会
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 from the 1950s to 1985
The French Mission Building housed LegCo in the 1840s

The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's "one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong's hybrid representative democracy, though popular representation in the legislature has diminished significantly in recent years, along with its political diversity.[2][3]

The 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 also has 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.[4][5]

Following the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, the National People's Congress disqualified several opposition councilors and initiated an electoral overhaul in 2021. The current Legislative Council consists of three groups of constituencies—geographical constituencies (GCs), functional constituencies (FCs), and Election Committee constituencies—and has been dominated by the pro-Beijing camp since an opposition walkout in 2020.[6] The 2021 changes resulted in a drop in the share of directly elected representatives from 50% to 22% and an increase in the overall number of seats from 70 to 90, along with the establishment of a screening committee to vet candidates.[6]

The original two groups (GCs and FCs) had constitutional significance. Government bills requires a simple majority of the council for passage, whereas private member bills requires simple majorities in two discrete divisions of geographical members and functional members for passage. Therefore, the directly elected legislators (mainly from the GCs) had minimal influence over government policy and legislative agenda.[citation needed]

The historical Legislative Council of Hong Kong in the British colonial era was created under the 1843 Charter as an advisory council to the Governor. The authority of the colonial legislature expanded throughout its history.[5] A parallel Provisional Legislative Council was put in place by China from 1996 to 1998 to pass laws in anticipation of the Hong Kong handover.

  1. ^ "2021 Legislative Council General Election - Election Brief". Elections.gov.hk.
  2. ^ "Hong Kong downgraded from 'flawed democracy' to 'hybrid regime' as city drops 12 places in Economist's democracy index". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Hong Kong electoral reform: LegCo passes 'patriots' law". BBC News. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  4. ^ "LegCo Today". Legislative Council Commission.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Official History was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b "Hong Kong electoral reform: LegCo passes 'patriots' law". BBC News. 27 May 2021. ... the Legislative Council (LegCo), which has been dominated by pro-Beijing lawmakers since a mass opposition walkout last year.... While overall seats will increase from 70 to 90, the number of directly elected representatives will fall from 35 to 20.

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