Legislative Council of Hong Kong	1843 - 1997

	Provisional Legislative Council of Hong Kong	1997 - 1998

	Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region	1998 -

Law-making is one of the primary powers and functions of the Legislative Council. Bills are proposed new legislation or amendments to existing legislation presented to the Legislative Council for consideration. Records in this series relate to the preparation works and activities on bills to be presented at Legislative Council Meetings since October 1991.

There are two types of bills: Government bills and Members’ bills. Government bills are proposed by the Government with a designated public officer put in charge of each bill. Members of the Legislative Council may also introduce bills according to legal procedures. Before 1997, a Member’s bill might be a public bill to introduce new legislative measures or amending an existing ordinance regarding public policies, subject to the charging effect. It might also be a private bill which provides for the particular interest or benefit of an individual, association or a body corporate. After the establishment of HKSAR Government, according to Article 74 of the Basic Law, bills which do not relate to public expenditure, political structure or the operation of the Government may be introduced individually or jointly by Members. As for bills relating to Government policies, the written consent of the Chief Executive shall be required before introduction.

Depending on the nature of the bills, the following are typically found in the files:
- Government Bills: Letters from the Executive Council on approving the introduction of bills.
- Members’ Public Bills: Law Draftsman’s certificates, Administration’s view on the charging effect of the Bills, and President’s Rulings.
- Members’ Private Bills: Law Draftsman’s certificates, legal notices for fulfilling gazettal and advertisement requirements, certificates signed by the promoter of the bills, exemption of demand note from Chief Secretary (if any) and President’s Rulings.

Among the types of documents contained in the files are notices of intention to present bills, draft Bills with explanatory memoranda, Legislative Council Briefs, correspondence among Members, the Legislative Council Secretariat, and the Administration regarding the Bills and the three-reading process, Bills Committee reports, notices of motion for second reading, speeches given at the Council Meetings, scripts and speaking lists for Council meetings, notices of motion for Committee Stage Amendments, Committee Stage Amendments proposed and to be moved, charts highlighting various stages of consideration of amendments to the Bills, minutes of Council Meetings, and notice of withdrawal, where applicable, as well as newspaper clippings and voting results.

The subjects covered reflect a wide range of legislation considered by the Legislative Council, such as religion, social welfare, civil rights, immigration, education, employment, transport, banking, personal data, housing, town planning, protection of Harbour, inland revenue, criminal procedure, Appropriation Bill, National Flag and National Emblem and the Court of Final Appeal.

Bills, Correspondence Files, LegCo Briefs, Minutes of Meeting, Motions, President’s Rulings, Reports

Bills ✔ Bills

CorrespondenceFiles ✔ Correspondence Files

LegCoBriefs ✔ LegCo Briefs

MinutesOfMeeting ✔ Minutes of Meeting

Motions ✔ Motions

PresidentRulings ✔ President’s Rulings

Reports ✔ Reports