Abstract
What is a legislature? What are its functions? A legislature is an institution that represents the people in the governmental process. As direct democracy is not practical in today's complex and multi-racial society, people have no choice but to delegate the governing responsibilities to representatives whom they elect openly, freely, and regularly. The functions and powers of the legislature are usually enshrined in a constitutional document or constitutional conventions. In addition to representing the people in the governmental process, legislatures also make laws, control public finance, and monitor the performance of the executive branch. This chapter looks in detail at Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo). It also discusses methods that can strengthen the capacity of LegCo and help it perform its duties better. The first section briefly examines the history of LegCo and its current membership composition. The second section discusses how membership composition affects LegCo's functioning, and studies its functions and powers under Hong Kong's Basic Law. The third section reviews constitutional constraints on the capacity of LegCo, and studies the second-term HKSAR LegCo to see how constitutional restrictions on its capacity affected its performance. The final section studies methods that would strengthen the capacity of LegCo.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Contemporary Hong Kong Politics |
| Subtitle of host publication | Governance in The Post-1997 Era |
| Pages | 39-57 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 |