Government of Hong Kong
Formation | 1 July 1997 |
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Founding document | Hong Kong Basic Law |
Jurisdiction | Hong Kong |
Website | gov.hk |
Legislative branch | |
Legislature | Legislative Council |
Meeting place | Legislative Council Complex |
Executive branch | |
Leader | Chief Executive |
Appointer | Premier, State Council of China |
Headquarters | Central Government Complex |
Main organ | Executive Council |
Departments | 13 (full list) |
Judicial branch | |
Court | Court of Final Appeal |
Seat | Court of Final Appeal Building |
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region | ||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 香港特別行政區政府 | |||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 香港特别行政区政府 | |||||||||||||
Cantonese Yale | Hēunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui Jingfú | |||||||||||||
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Abbreviation | ||||||||||||||
Chinese | 香港政府 | |||||||||||||
Cantonese Yale | Hēunggóng Jingfú | |||||||||||||
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Politics and government of Hong Kong |
Related topics Hong Kong portal |
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,
Under the "
Head of government
The Chief Executive is the head of the Region and
As of 1 July 1997,[update] the
Executive
Executive Council
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 21 principal officials and 16 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.[6]
Principal officials
In a system popularly called the
Under the new system, there are 3 Secretaries of department and 13 Directors of Bureaux. 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. 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.
Deputy ministers and political assistants
The government released a report on the Further Development of the Political Appointment System[7] on 17 October 2007.[8] 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.[9]
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.[10]
Chief Secretary for Administration
The Chief Secretary for Administration is responsible for assisting the Chief Executive in the supervision of policy bureaux and plays a key role in ensuring harmony in policy formulation and implementation. The current Secretary is Chan Kwok-ki.
Financial Secretary
The Financial Secretary is responsible for preparing the Government Budget in accordance with the Chief Executive's agenda in the policy address, ensuring fiscal policies are in accordance to the Public Finance Ordinance. The secretary has to estimate of revenue and expenditure before the Legislative Council each year, and to deliver an annual budget to the Legislative Council, outlining the government's budgetary proposals and moving the appropriation bills. The current FS is Paul Chan Mo-po.
Secretary for Justice
The Secretary for Justice is responsible for prosecutions and legal matters and heads the Department of Justice. The current Secretary for Justice is Teresa Cheng.
Policy bureaux (ministries) and government departments
The hierarchical structure of the government secretariat and government departments in Chief Executive John Lee's administration since 1 July 2022 is as follows:
Government secretariat | Government departments | |
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Under the Chief Secretary for Administration |
Chief Secretary for Administration's Office |
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Civil Service Bureau | ||
Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau | ||
Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau |
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Education Bureau |
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Environment and Ecology Bureau
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Health Bureau |
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Home and Youth Affairs Bureau
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Labour and Welfare Bureau |
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Security Bureau |
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Under the Financial Secretary |
Financial Secretary's Office | |
Commerce and Economic Development Bureau |
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Development Bureau
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Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
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Housing Bureau | ||
Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau
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Transport and Logistics Bureau |
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Office of the Chief Executive
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
Chief Secretary for Administration's Office
The Human Resources Planning and Poverty Co-ordination Office, Administration Wing and Legal Aid Department are under the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office.
Financial Secretary's Office
The
Department of Justice
The
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.
Policy Bureaux
The current fifteen policy bureaux is a result of the
- Civil Service Bureau
- Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau
- Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (newly established)
- Education Bureau
- Environment and Ecology Bureau (re-titled from the Environment Bureau and takes over the Food and Health Bureau except health)
- Health Bureau (takes over health policies from the defunct Food and Health Bureau)
- Home Affairs Bureau)
- Labour and Welfare Bureau
- Security Bureau
- Commerce and Economic Development Bureau
- Development Bureau
- Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
- Housing Bureau (split from the defunct Transport and Housing Bureau)
- Innovation and Technology Bureau)
- Transport and Logistics Bureau (split from the defunct Transport and Housing Bureau)
Departments and agencies
See also
- Chinese Communist Party
- Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
- Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs
- Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office
- United Front Work Department
- Government of China
- Government of Macau
- Hong Kong Civil Service
- Legislative Council
- District Councils
- Hong Kong government officials
- Hong Kong politicians
- Government Hill
- Central Government Complex
- Principal Officials Accountability System
References
- ^ "Basic Law of Hong Kong – Chapter IV". basiclaw.gov.hk. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ Article 68, Hong Kong Basic Law
- ^ Creery, Jennifer (1 September 2020). "No separation of powers in Hong Kong says Chief Exec. Carrie Lam, despite previous comments from top judges". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ Smith, Michael (5 October 2019). "Violence sweeps Hong Kong after face mask ban". Financial Review. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ "Emergency Regulations Ordinance". Hong Kong e-Legislation.
- ^ "GovHK: Government Structure". Retrieved 25 October 2009.
- ^ Report on Further Development of the Political Appointment System
- ^ "Consultation Document on the Further Development of the Political Appointment System", Hong Kong Government, July 2006
- ^ Michael Ng, "Attracting new political talent 'from all sectors'" Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 27 July 2006
- ^ Ambrose Leung, "Tsang's assistant may face Legco censure", Pg A3, South China Morning Post, 17 June 2008