Executive Council of Hong Kong

The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the Chief Executive.[1][2] It is analogous to other Executive Councils in the Commonwealth such as the Federal Executive Council of Australia, the Executive Council of New Zealand, and the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

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Executive Council of Hong Kong
Traditional Chinese行政會議
Simplified Chinese行政会议
Pre-handover name
Chinese行政局

The Executive Council is to "advise" the Chief Executive in policy-making and the administration of the government. The Chief Executive acting after consultation with the Executive Council is known as Chief Executive in Council.[3] The Chief Executive in Council introduces bills to the Legislative Council and issue instruments known as Orders in Council, which amongst other things are used to make delegated legislation, and regulate certain public institutions. The Chief Executive in Council also hears appeals and objections under certain Ordinances.[4]

Under the presidency of the Chief Executive, the Executive Council consists of 16 Official Members (the most senior of these being the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, head of the Government Secretariat and chair of the Policy Committee), and 16 Non-official Members (also known as ministers without portfolio who are normally leading legislators from pro-establishment political parties) headed by the Convenor of the Non-official Members. The Council normally meets once a week. Unlike the British and Canadian Councils, legislators from the opposition are not appointed to the Executive Council.

History

The Executive Council was set up by the British Hong Kong Government. The first ex officio members were the Colonial Secretary and the Colonial Treasurer in the 1840s. The Attorney General was added in the 1850s. In 1949, the Executive Council had five ex officio members: the senior military officer (Commander of British Forces Overseas), the colonial secretary, the attorney general, the secretary for Chinese affairs and the financial secretary; the Commissioner of Labour, while an 'official' was not an ex officio member. In addition, there were six 'unofficial members': the chief manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Tai-Pan of Jardine's, a solicitor, two barristers, and a physician.[5]

In 1994 the title 'Senior Member' or 'Senior Unofficial Member' was changed to 'Convenor', when Lydia Dunn was succeeded in the post by Rosanna Wong.[6]

The format of the Executive Council was retained after the transfer of sovereignty in 1997 until a ministerial system (named Principal Officials Accountability System or POAS) was introduced in 2002, Tung Chee Hwa's second term of office. Since then all secretaries are political appointees and have to leave the civil service. All secretaries are appointed to the council, transforming the council effectively into a cabinet. Non-official members are minorities in the council, and are like ministers-without-portfolio. The position of convenor was abolished.

In fulfilling his election platform, Chief Executive Sir Donald Tsang appointed eight new non-official members the day after delivering his first policy address on 12 October 2005. Secretaries of bureaux would sit in meetings of the Council when the agenda was related to their portfolio, and the position of convenor was restored. It was presented as a move to re-strengthen the role of the Council as a link with the community.

Change in composition
YearNumber of
Official Members
exclusive of the
Chief Executive		Number of
Non-official Members
1997311
2002145
2004147
20051415
20071516
20081515
20091516
20121514
20121516
20131514
20151515
20151614
20151616
20161616
20171615
20171616

Composition

The members of Executive Council are appointed by the Chief Executive from among principal officials (heads of department, informally called "ministers"), members of Legislative Council, and public figures. Their appointment and removal is decided by the Chief Executive. There is no fixed term of office, but the term of office of members cannot extend beyond the expiry of that of the Chief Executive who appoints them (Article 55 of the Basic Law).

The Council is presided over by the Chief Executive. In addition to the 16 principal officials there are 16 Non-official members. Other than the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary and Secretary for Justice, official members only sit in meetings that are related to their portfolio.

The following list includes all members of the Executive Council in the order of precedence:

  • Note: To avoid confusion, all the names on this list follow the Hong Kong convention (English name <if available>, family name, Chinese given name <if available>) for consistency.
Capacity Portrait Members Affiliation Portfolio Assumed Office Born In Ref
President Carrie Lam Nonpartisan Chief Executive 1 July 2017 1957 [7]
Official Matthew Cheung Nonpartisan Chief Secretary for Administration 16 January 2017 1951
Official Paul Chan Nonpartisan Financial Secretary 16 January 2017 1955
Official Teresa Cheng Nonpartisan Secretary for Justice 6 January 2018 1958
Non-official Bernard Chan Nonpartisan Non-official Convenor of the Executive Council 1 July 2017 1965
Non-official Laura Cha Nonpartisan Chairman of the Financial Services Development Council 19 October 2004 1949 [8]
Non-official Arthur Li Nonpartisan Chairman of the Council of the University of Hong Kong 1 July 2012 1945 [9]
Non-official Chow Chung-kong Nonpartisan Chairman of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing 1 July 2012 1950 [10]
Non-official Fanny Law Nonpartisan Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks 1 July 2012 1953 [11]
Official Wong Kam-sing Nonpartisan Secretary for the Environment 1 July 2012 1963 [12]
Non-official Jeffrey Lam BPA Member of Legislative Council
Vice-Chairman of BPA		 17 October 2012 1951
Non-official Ip Kwok-him DAB Hong Kong Deputy to the National People's Congress
Former Vice-Chairman of DAB		 17 March 2016 1951
Non-official Tommy Cheung Liberal Member of Legislative Council
Chairman of Liberal Party		 25 November 2016 1949
Non-official Martin Liao Nonpartisan Member of Legislative Council 25 November 2016 1957
Non-official Joseph Yam Nonpartisan Executive Vice President of the China Society for Finance and Banking 1 July 2017 1948
Non-official Regina Ip NPP Member of Legislative Council
Chairperson of New People's Party		 1 July 2017 1950
Non-official Ronny Tong Path of Democracy Senior Counsel
Convenor of Path of Democracy		 1 July 2017 1950
Non-official Wong Kwok-kin FTU Member of Legislative Council
Former Chairman of FTU		 1 July 2017 1952
Official Law Chi-kwong Nonpartisan Secretary for Labour and Welfare 1 July 2017 1957
Official John Lee Nonpartisan Secretary for Security 1 July 2017 1957
Official Frank Chan Nonpartisan Secretary for Transport and Housing 1 July 2017 1958
Official Sophia Chan Nonpartisan Secretary for Food and Health 1 July 2017 1958
Official Edward Yau Nonpartisan Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development 1 July 2017 1960
Non-official Lam Ching-choi Nonpartisan Chairman of the Elderly Commission 1 July 2017 1960
Official Michael Wong Nonpartisan Secretary for Development 1 July 2017 1962
Official Kevin Yeung Nonpartisan Secretary for Education 1 July 2017 1963
Non-official Kenneth Lau BPA Member of Legislative Council
Chairman of Heung Yee Kuk		 1 July 2017 1966
Non-official Horace Cheung DAB Member of Legislative Council
Vice-Chairman of DAB		 1 July 2017 1974
Official Patrick Nip Nonpartisan Secretary for the Civil Service 20 April 2020 1964
Official Erick Tsang Nonpartisan Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs 20 April 2020 1963
Official Alfred Sit Nonpartisan Secretary for Innovation and Technology 20 April 2020 1962
Official Caspar Tsui DAB Secretary for Home Affairs 20 April 2020 1976
Official Christopher Hui DAB Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury 20 April 2020 1977

Source[13]

List of the past Executive Councils

Location

The Executive Council meets in the Lower Block of the Central Government Complex, Tamar. Until 2012, ExCo met in the Main Wing of the Central Government Offices on Government Hill, in Central and below Government House (former residence of the British Governor of Hong Kong).

Prior to the Handover, the Provisional Executive Council of Hong Kong, headed by Tung Chee Hwa, met in Shenzhen or Tung's office on the 11th floor of the Asia Pacific Finance Tower in Hong Kong. Members of the outgoing British Hong Kong ExCo were not permitted to attend this body.

Both Executive Council sittings were on Tuesdays.

See also

References
  1. "Hong Kong – the Facts". GovHK.
  2. Article 54, Hong Kong Basic Law: The Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be an organ for assisting the Chief Executive in policy-making.
  3. Section 3, Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1).
  4. Section 64, Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1).
  5. Ingrams, Harold, Hong Kong (Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London: 1952), p. 231.
  6. Hong Kong's Journey to Reunification - Memoirs of Sze-yuen Chung, p307, Chinese University Press, 2001, ISBN 962-996-002-8
  7. "Chief Executive – Biography". Government of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  8. "The Honourable Mrs Laura CHA SHIH May-lung, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  9. "Professor the Honourable Arthur LI Kwok-cheung, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  10. "The Honourable CHOW Chung-kong". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  11. "The Honourable Mrs Fanny LAW FAN Chiu-fun, GBS, JP". Executive Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  12. "Mr Wong Kam-sing, JP, Secretary for the Environment". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  13. ExCo membership announced, 29 June 2012, HK Information Services Department
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