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Government of Hong Kong

Executive authorities of Hong Kong

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The Chief Executive, who is responsible to both Hong Kong and the Central People's Government in Beijing, is appointed by the State Council of China after being elected by the 1500-member Election Committee. The Chief Executive in turn nominates the principal officials for appointment by the State Council of China. The Chief Secretary, who is the most senior principal official, leads the Government Secretariat, which contains most of the government's departments and permanent bureaucracy.

Under the principle of separation of powers, members of the government, including both political appointees and civil servants, cannot run for election to the Legislative Council, to which the government is accountable. The government must rely on the legislature to enact primary legislation and grant supply. The government operates under an executive-led system.

Under the "one country, two systems" constitutional principle, the Government is, in law, exclusively in charge of Hong Kong's internal affairs and specified external relations. The Central People's Government, from which the Hong Kong government is financially independent, is responsible for Hong Kong's defence and foreign policy, while decisions made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress can, in certain circumstances, override Hong Kong courts. The Hong Kong SAR government replaced the former British Hong Kong Government (1842–1997) in 1997. Despite gradually evolving, the general governmental structure was inherited from British Hong Kong.

Powers

Historical position (1841-1997)

As a crown colony and later a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, the government's executive authority was vested in the British monarch, which was exercised by the governor of Hong Kong as the representative of the Crown. The governor was appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. Unlike self-governing dominions, which share a common monarch but a separate monarchy who can only be advised by the government of the dominion in their exercise of executive power, the Crown in right of Hong Kong could be advised by the British government in London, making the British Hong Kong government constitutionally subservient to Westminster. Article VIII of the Hong Kong Letters Patent conferred on the governor a legislative power, authorising him, "by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council", to "make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Colony".

In practice, executive power was exercised by the governor in consultation with the Executive Council, with the imperial government in London rarely directly intervening in the colony's affairs. The governor served as president of the council and effectively appointed all of its members, with the council advising the governor on all policymaking matters. This in effect meant that all policy and administrative matters had to be considered by the Executive Council before being debated by the legislature. The governor-in-council also had the power to make secondary legislation, and to consider appeals, petitions and objections.

After the Handover (1997-present)

Upon the handover of Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, sovereignty over the territory was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China. The Hong Kong government largely exercised the same powers and functions, but the source of that power shifted from the Crown to the National People's Congress. Article 2 of the Basic Law states that the National People's Congress authorises the HKSAR to enjoy executive power, suggesting that Hong Kong does not inherently possess such powers.

The powers and functions to be exercised by the Government of Hong Kong are set out in Article 62 of the Basic Law:

  1. To formulate and implement policies;
  2. To conduct administrative affairs;
  3. To conduct external affairs as authorised by the Central People's Government under [the Basic Law];
  4. To draw up and introduce budgets and final accounts;
  5. To draft and introduce bills, motions and subordinate legislation; and
  6. To designate officials to sit in on the meetings of the Legislative Council and to speak on behalf of the government.

Modern constitutional position

While Hong Kong is often described as having a clear separation of powers with three distinct branches of government, the Hong Kong and Chinese governments frequently assert that Hong Kong has an "executive-led" form of governance and insist that Hong Kong has no formal separation of powers. The requirement that the Chief Executive's consent be obtained before the introduction of bills relating to government policy in the Legislative Council, the split voting system for private members' bills in the Legislative Council, and restriction on private members' bills relating to public spending or the political structure or operation of the government are sometimes cited as features of the "executive-led" system.

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