Government of Hong Kong

The Executive Council decides on matters of policy, the introduction of bills to the Legislative Council and the drafting of subordinate legislation. The Council consists of 15 principal officials and 14 non-official members. All members are appointed by the Chief Executive from among the senior officials of the executive authorities, members of the Legislative Council, and other influential public personnels. They serve for a period no longer than the expiry of the Chief Executive's term of office.[4]

In a system popularly called the Principal Officials Accountability System introduced by then Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa in July 2002, all principal officials, including the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary, Secretary for Justice and heads of government bureaux would no longer be politically neutral career civil servants, but would all be political appointees chosen by the Chief Executive from within or outside the civil service. The system was portrayed as the key to solve previous administrative problems, notably the co-operation of high-ranking civil servants with the Chief Executive.

Under the new system, there are 3 Secretaries of Department and 13 Directors of Bureau. The system is aimed at raising the accountability of the civil service, so the political appointees are responsible for all their job aspects and will step down if they make any failure. Under the new system, all heads of bureaux became members of the Executive Council, and came directly under the Chief Executive instead of the Chief Secretary or the Financial Secretary.

The government released a report on the Further Development of the Political Appointment System[5] on 17 October 2007.[6] Two new layers, Deputy Directors of Bureaux and Assistants to Directors (AD) would be added to the political appointments. Each Director of Bureau will be assisted by the two new appointees and constitute the political team, who would ostensibly work closely with bureau secretaries and top civil servants in implementing the Chief Executive's policy agenda in an executive-led government. As with the principal officials, these two new posts may be drawn from within or outside the civil service, and appointees may or may not have a political background.[7]

Eight new Under-secretaries were named on 20 May, and nine Political Assistant appointments were announced on 22 May 2008. By the administration's own admission, the announcements were poorly handled, and there was widespread criticism of several key aspects, namely the nationality and experience of appointees, the transparency of the recruitment process and the level of officials' salaries.[8]

The Office of the Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring the Chief Executive receives the best advice and support for formulating and co-ordinating policies. It is headed by the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, who would sit in meetings of the Executive Council.

The Policy Innovation and Coordination Office, Independent Commission Against Corruption, Audit Commission, Office of the Ombudsman and Public Service Commission report to the Chief Executive directly.

The Human Resources Planning and Poverty Co-ordination Office, Administration Wing and Legal Aid Department are under the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office.

The Office of the Government Economist and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are under the Financial Secretary's Office.

The Department of Justice is led by the Secretary for Justice (Hong Kong) (Legal Department and Attorney General before the transfer of sovereignty). The Secretary for Justice (SJ) is responsible for all prosecutions in Hong Kong, drafting all Government legislation, and advising other policy bureaux and departments of the government on a vast array of legal issues.

The department consists of the Prosecutions Division, the Civil Division, the Legal Policy Division, the Law Drafting Division, the International Law Division, and the Administration and Development Division.

After the reorganisation in 2007, the Government Secretariat today consists of thirteen policy bureaux. Nine of which reports to the Chief Secretary for Administration, and the other four reports to the Financial Secretary. The Chief Secretary for Administration is customarily considered to be the leader of the bureaux.

• Civil Service Bureau
• Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau
• Education Bureau
• Food and Health Bureau
• Home Affairs Bureau
• Labour and Welfare Bureau
• Security Bureau
• Transport and Housing Bureau
• Environment Bureau
• Commerce and Economic Development Bureau
• Development Bureau
• Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
• Innovation and Technology Bureau