Editing Provisional Legislative Council

{{Short description|Hong Kong legislature}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox Parliament
|name          = Provisional Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region<br />{{nobold|香港特別行政區臨時立法會}}
|coa_pic       = Emblem of the Provisional Legislative Council.svg
|established        = {{start date and age|df=yes|1997|1|25}}
|disbanded          = {{start date and age|df=yes|1998|6|30}}
|session_room  = 
|house_type    = Unicameral
|houses        = 
|leader1_type  = President
|leader1       = [[Rita Fan]]
|party1        = [[Independent (politician)|Independent]]
|election1     = 
|preceded_by        = [[List of Legislative Council of Hong Kong members elected in 1995|Colonial Legislative Council]]
|succeeded_by       = [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council HKSAR]]
|members       = 60
|p_groups      = 
|voting_system1     = [[Plurality-at-large voting|Plurality-at-large]] by [[Selection Committee (Hong Kong)|Selection Committee]]
|election3     = [[1996 Hong Kong provisional legislative election|21 December 1996]]
|meeting_place = [[Huaxia Art Centre]] <small>(February–June 1997)</small> <br /> [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]] <small>(1 July 1997)</small> <br /> [[Old Supreme Court Building, Hong Kong|Legislative Council Building]] <small>(1 July 1997 – 30 June 1998)</small>
|website       = 
}}
{{Chinese
|order=ts
|t=香港特別行政區臨時立法會
|s=香港特别行政区临时立法会
|j=Hoeng1 gong2 dak6 bit6 hang4 zing3 keoi1 lam4 si4 lap6 faat3 wui6*2
|y=Hēung góng dahk biht hàhng jing kēui làhm sìh lahp faat wuih
|p=Xiānggǎng Tèbiéxíngzhèngqū Línshí Lìfǎhuì
}}
The '''Provisional Legislative Council''' ('''PLC''') was the interim legislature of [[Hong Kong]] that operated from 1997 to 1998. The legislature was founded in [[Guangzhou]] and sat in [[Shenzhen]] from 1996 (with offices in Hong Kong), until the [[Handover of Hong Kong|1997 handover]] when it moved to Hong Kong to temporarily replace the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong]]. 

The legislature was established by the [[Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region]] by resolution at its Second Plenary Session on 24 March 1996. The 60 members of the PLC were elected on 21 December 1996 by the 400-member Selection Committee for the First Government of the HKSAR, which also elected the first Chief Executive. The official start date for this council was on 25 January 1997.<ref>[http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/intro/hist_lc.htm History of the Legco]</ref>

==History==
=== 1992 electoral reforms ===
When the [[Hong Kong Basic Law]] was promulgated on 4 April 1990, the [[National People's Congress]] (NPC) issued a decision on the same day on the formation of the first government and legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.<ref name="NPC1990">{{Cite web|url=https://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/images/basiclawtext_doc12.pdf|title=Decision of the National People's Congress on the Method for the Formation of the First Government and the First Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region|date=4 April 1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008224524/https://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/images/basiclawtext_doc12.pdf|archive-date=8 October 2018|access-date=5 December 2018}}</ref> The decision and the Basic Law envisioned the Legislative Council returned from the [[1995 Hong Kong legislative election]] to continue operating until 1998, when the next legislative election would be due.<ref name="Chen1997">{{Cite journal|last=Chen|first=Albert H. Y.|author-link=Albert Chen|date=1997|title=The Provisional Legislative Council of the SAR|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/37906606.pdf|journal=Hong Kong Law Journal|volume=27|issue=1|pages=1–11}}</ref>{{rp|1}}

The NPC decided that the first legislature was to be formed according to "principles of State sovereignty and smooth transition".<ref name="NPC1990"/> More specifically, the first legislature was to have 60 members, 20 of which returned from direct [[geographical constituency]] elections, 30 members from [[Functional constituency (Hong Kong)|functional constituencies]] and 10 members returned by an election committee.<ref name="Chan1997"/>{{rp|375}} If the composition of the last colonial Legislative Council conforms to the NPC decision and the Basic Law, its members automatically become members of the first post-handover Legislative Council, provided that they uphold the Basic Law, plead allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and meet the requirements of the Basic Law.<ref name="NPC1990" />

The automatic transition (or the "through-train" model)<ref name="Chan1997" />{{rp|375}} was abandoned on 31 August 1994, when the NPC decided the 1995 Legislative Council would end with British sovereignty over Hong Kong. The policy changed when the Hong Kong government decided the 1995 legislature would be formed with a new electoral formula from the [[1994 Hong Kong electoral reform|1994 electoral reform]] announced by Hong Kong Governor [[Chris Patten]] in October 1992. Although the new formula expanded Hong Kong's electoral base, it conformed with the seat composition described in the NPC decision by only allowing 33 percent of seats to be elected through universal suffrage.<ref name="Gittings2016">{{cite book |last1=Gittings |first1=Danny |title=Introduction to the Hong Kong Basic Law |date=2016 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789888208364 |edition=2nd}}</ref>{{rp|28}} This was possible only because the decision did not define the election committee and the functional constituency electorate.<ref name="Scragg1997">{{cite journal |last1=Scragg |first1=Richard |title=Constitutional Change in Hong Kong: The Legitimacy of the Provisional Legislative Council |journal=Canterbury Law Review |date=1997 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=593–609 |url=https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/cblrt6&section=38 |access-date=6 April 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{rp|600}}

The electoral reform created nine functional constituencies that gave paid labourers voting rights and abolished voting by corporations, which could vote in the old functional constituencies.<ref name="Scragg1997"/>{{rp|601}} As a result, the number of voters in the functional constituencies increased to about 2.7 million from 104,609.<ref name="Scragg1997"/>{{rp|601}} The reform also defined the election committee to consist of [[District councils of Hong Kong|district board]] members, who were themselves elected by universal suffrage.<ref name="Scragg1997"/>{{rp|601}}

China did not recognise the Legislative Council returned after the electoral reform. It stated the new composition violated the [[Sino-British Joint Declaration]], the Basic Law and the NPC decision made in 1990.<ref name="Chan1997" />{{rp|375}} It also stated the reforms were introduced unilaterally, and China was not consulted on the change in seat composition.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|1}}

Negotiations between the British and Chinese governments on the legislative transition began in April 1993, but ended in November 1993 without a consensus.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|2}} On 2 July 1993, the NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) formed the [[Preliminary Working Committee]],<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|2}} an organisation that prepared for the establishment of the [[Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region]] in 1996. According to legal scholar [[Albert Chen]], the PLC was an idea of the Preliminary Working Committee.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|2}}

=== Establishment ===
On 26 January 1996, the Preparatory Committee was formed in accordance with the 1990 NPC decision.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|6}} At its second plenary session on 24 March 1996, the Preparatory Committee established the PLC.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|6}} The PLC's composition was consistent with the 1990 NPC decision, but all members were to be chosen by the [[Selection Committee (Hong Kong)|Selection Committee]].<ref name="Chan1997"/>{{rp|375}} By the end of 1996, all 60 members of the PLC had been chosen by the selection committee controlled by China.<ref name="Humphrey1996">{{cite news |last1=Humphrey |first1=Peter |title=China snubs Britain with new HK legislature |agency=Reuters |date=21 December 1996}}</ref> The [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]] boycotted the PLC and criticised it for being undemocratic, while politicians [[Tsang Yok-sing]], [[Elsie Tu]], Dominic Chan and [[Peggy Lam]] gained a seat.<ref name="Humphrey1996" />

The Provisional Legislative Council convened its first meeting on 25 January 1997 at the [[Shenzhen Guesthouse Hotel]] in [[Shenzhen]]. At the meeting, it elected its first president, [[Rita Fan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2012978/explained-how-hong-kongs-legislative-council-has|title=Explained: how Hong Kong's Legislative Council has evolved|last=Singh|first=Harminder|publisher=South China Morning Post|date=2 September 2016|access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/intro/hist_lc.htm|title=Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region – History of the Legislature|access-date=25 May 2015}}</ref> From 1 July 1997 to 1998, it sat at the then [[Old Supreme Court Building, Hong Kong|Legislative Council Building]] in Hong Kong.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

Council committees and the LegCo Secretariat sat at various locations, including{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}:
* [[Huaxia Art Centre]] – 1 Guanqiao Street in the Overseas Chinese Town in [[Nanshan District, Shenzhen]] from 22 February to 21 June 1997
* [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]] Extension – 1 July 1997

The Council held 60 meetings, 17 motions and passed 13 bills introduced by the [[Chief Executive of Hong Kong]].{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} The Legco Secretariat offices were on the 3rd Floor of the Huaxia Art Centre.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

==Organisation==
{{Main|1996 Hong Kong provisional legislative election}}

===President of the Provisional Legislative Council===
{{Main|1997 President of the Hong Kong Provisional Legislative Council election}}
The president of the PLC was [[Rita Fan]], who later led the legislative council following the handover.

===Members===
{{Main|List of LegCo members elected in Hong Kong legislative election, 1996}}

===Officers of the Provisional Legislative Council===
The only officer found in the records was for the Clerk, Pauline Ng Man-Wah. Immediately after the Provisional Legislative Council was disbanded, she became the clerk of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. She retired from this position on 28 August 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=政情：吳文華退休生活忙過返工|url=http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20120917/00176_094.html}}</ref>

=== Standing committees ===

* Finance Committee
* Public Accounts Committee
* Committee of Members' Interest

== Legislative functions ==
The legislative functions of the PLC are described by the Preparatory Committee in 1996.<ref name="Chan1997" />{{rp|375}}

== Proceedings ==
=== Meeting broadcast ===
Sessions of the PLC were broadcast with assistance from the [[Shenzhen Television Station]].<ref>{{Cite web| title=President's foreword | url=http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr97-98/english/sec/a_rpt9798.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816193044/http://www.legco.gov.hk:80/yr97-98/english/sec/a_rpt9798.pdf | archive-date=2000-08-16}}</ref>

== Legal status ==
The PLC is neither referred to in the Basic Law nor the Joint Declaration as their drafters assumed the last colonial legislative session would automatically become the Special Administrative Region's first legislature.<ref name="Yap2007">{{cite journal |last1=Yap |first1=Po Jen |title=Interpreting the Basic Law and the Adjudication of Politically Sensitive Questions |journal=Chinese Journal of International Law |date=2007 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=543–564 |doi=10.1093/chinesejil/jmm030}}</ref>{{rp|546}} The legality of the PLC was challenged in the case ''HKSAR v Ma Wai Kwan''<ref name="MaWaiKwan">''HKSAR v Ma Wai Kwan, David'' [1997] HKLRD 761 (CA).</ref> decided by the [[Court of Appeal (Hong Kong)|Court of Appeal]] on 29 July 1997. The defendants argued that the PLC was unlawful because it did not satisfy the Basic Law's definition of Hong Kong's legislature in Annex II.<ref name="Yap2007"/>{{rp|546}} The court dismissed the argument. Among other reasons, the court held that as a local court it had no power to review an act of a sovereign authority.<ref name="Chen2006">{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Albert H. Y. |year=2006 |title=Constitutional Adjudication in Post-1997 Hong Kong |journal=Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=627–682|url=http://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handle/1773.1/633/15PacRimLPolyJ627.pdf|access-date=6 December 2018}}</ref>{{rp|633}} The court reasoned that since Article 19 of the Basic Law did not expand its judicial powers and that it had no power to review the validity of a sovereign act under colonial rule, it did not hold such power after the handover.<ref name="Chen2006" />{{rp|633}} While Justice [[Gerald Nazareth]] agreed with the majority decision, he questioned whether the constitutional structure of China and that of the United Kingdom were analogous. He also noted there was no "detailed review" of the [[Constitution of the People's Republic of China|Chinese constitution]] during the trial.<ref name="MaWaiKwan"/>{{rp|352–353}} The decision in ''Ma Wai Kwan'' was upheld by the [[Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong)|Court of Final Appeal]] in ''[[Ng Ka Ling v Director of Immigration]]'' decided in January 1999.

[[Johannes Chan]] commented that the lack of judicial review power to review acts of [[United Kingdom Parliament|Parliament]] reflected [[parliamentary supremacy]], a doctrine borne out of unwritten constitutional systems.<ref name="Chan1997">{{cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=Johannes |title=The Jurisdiction and Legality of the Provisional Legislative Council |journal=Hong Kong Law Journal |date=1997 |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=374–387|url=https://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/75020/1/content.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|376}} Since China has a written constitution and that the Basic Law describes the relationship between Hong Kong and the central government unlike the colonial [[Hong Kong Letters Patent 1917|Letters Patent]] and the [[Hong Kong Royal Instructions 1917|Royal Instructions]], Chan questioned whether parliamentary supremacy still fully applies in Hong Kong after 1997.<ref name="Chan1997"/>{{rp|377}} 
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== Criticisms ==
{{criticism-section|date=December 2018}}
The PLC was criticised for its lack of legitimacy and representation. The replacement of a (partially) democratically elected legislature with a wholly appointed body was regarded by some as a setback to the democratization in Hong Kong. Critics also described the PLC as a rubber stamp of the Chief Executive. <ref>{{cite journal | last=Wong | first=Timothy Ka-ying | date= 1998 | title=The First Legislative Council Election of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: Meaning and Impact | journal=Issues & Studies |volume= 34 | issue= 9 | pages=129 }}</ref>-->

==See also==
{{Portal|Hong Kong}}
* [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong]]
* [[1996 Hong Kong Provisional Legislature election]]
* [[Legislation of the Provisional Government of Hong Kong]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite web|last=Richburg|first=Keith B. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/hongkong/legco.htm|title=Hong Kong's Legislature-in-Waiting|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=1997-04-09|page=A23}}

{{Legislative Councils of Hong Kong}}
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