The Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) was the interim legislature of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

that operated from 1997 to 1998. The legislature was founded in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

and sat in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...

from 1996 (with offices in Hong Kong) until the handover in 1997 and moved to Hong Kong to serve as the temporary replacement of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kon ...

. It was established by the

Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region The Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was a body established by the People's Republic of China government on 26 January 1996 for the transition of the Hong Kong sovereignty in 1997. The Preparatory Committee was ...

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.

History

1992 electoral reforms

When the

Hong Kong Basic Law The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Comprising nine chapters, 160 a ...

was promulgated on 4 April 1990, the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,9 ...

(NPC) issued a decision on the same day on the formation of the first government and legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The decision and the Basic Law envisioned the Legislative Council returned from the

1995 Hong Kong legislative election The 1995 Hong Kong Legislative Council election for members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) was held on 17 September 1995. It was the first, and only, fully elected legislative election in the colonial period before transferri ...

to continue operating until 1998, when the next legislative election would be due. The NPC decided that the first legislature was to be formed according to "principles of State sovereignty and smooth transition". More specifically, the first legislature was to have 60 members, 20 of which returned from direct

geographical constituency In Hong Kong, geographical constituencies, as opposed to functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituencies. There are currently 5 geographical constituencies in Hong Kong, return ...

elections, 30 members from functional constituencies and 10 members returned by an election committee. 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. The automatic transition (or the "through-train" model) 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 electoral reform announced by Hong Kong Governor

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life ...

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. This was possible only because decision did not define the election committee and the functional constituency electorate. 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. As a result, the number of voters in the functional constituencies increased to about 2.7 million from 104,609. The reform also defined the election committee to consist of

district board The district councils, formerly district boards until 1999, are the local councils for the 18 districts of Hong Kong. History Before establishment An early basis for the delivery of local services were the Kaifong associations, set up i ...

members, who were themselves elected by universal suffrage. China did not recognise the Legislative Council returned after the electoral reform. It stated the new composition violated the

Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after ...

, the Basic Law and the NPC decision made in 1990. It also stated the reforms were introduced unilaterally, and China was not consulted on the change in seat composition. Negotiations between the British and Chinese governments on the legislative transition began in April 1993, but ended in November 1993 without a consensus. On 2 July 1993, the NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) formed the

Preliminary Working Committee The Preliminary Working Committee (PWC) was a body set up by the Government of the People's Republic of China government for the preparation of the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong. The first meeting of the PWC was held in July 1995 and ende ...

, an organisation that prepared for the establishment of the

in 1996. According to legal scholar Albert Chen, the PLC was an idea of the Preliminary Working Committee.

Establishment

On 26 January 1996, the Preparatory Committee was formed in accordance with the 1990 NPC decision. At its second plenary session on 24 March 1996, the Preparatory Committee established the PLC. The PLC's composition was consistent with the 1990 NPC decision, but all members were to be chosen by the Selection Committee. By the end of 1996, all 60 members of the PLC had been chosen by the selection committee controlled by China. The Democratic Party boycotted the PLC and criticised it for being undemocratic, while politicians Tsang Yok-sing, Elsie Tu, Dominic Chan and

Peggy Lam Peggy Lam Pei Yu-dja, GBS, OBE (; born 1928) is a Beijing loyalist politician in Hong Kong. She is the chief executive officer of the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong. Family She graduated from the University of Shanghai with a Bachelor ...

gained a seat. The Provisional Legislative Council convened its first meeting on 25 January 1997 at the

Shenzhen Guesthouse Hotel Shenzhen Guesthouse Hotel is a three star hotel in the Dongmen business district of Shenzhen, China. Description The main structure of the hotel is a winged 11 storey tower with 620 rooms and located on 15 Xin Yuan Road in the Lu Hu District of Sh ...

. At the meeting, it elected its first president, Rita Fan. From 1 July 1997 to 1998, it sat at the then Legislative Council Building in Hong Kong. Council committees and the LegCo Secretariat sat at various locations, including: * Huaxia Art Centre – 1 Guanqiao Street in the Overseas Chinese Town in

Nanshan District, Shenzhen Nanshan District ( ; Cantonese Jyutping: Naam4 Saan1 Keoi1) is one of the nine districts comprising Shenzhen. It encompasses the southwest area of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, with a population of 1.08 million. In 2013, the district of N ...

from 22 February to 21 June 1997 *

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) is one of the two major convention and exhibition venues in Hong Kong, along with AsiaWorld–Expo. It is located in Wan Chai North, Hong Kong Island. Built along the Victoria Harbou ...

Extension – 1 July 1997 The Council held 60 meetings, 17 motions and passed 13 bills introduced by the

Chief Executive of Hong Kong The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of governor of ...

. The Legco Secretariat offices were on the 3rd Floor of the Huaxia Art Centre.

Organisation

President of the Provisional Legislative Council

The president of the PLC was Rita Fan, who later led the legislative council following the handover.

Members

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.

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.

Proceedings

Meeting broadcast

Sessions of the PLC were broadcast with assistance from the Shenzhen Television Station.

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. The legality of the PLC was challenged in the case ''HKSAR v Ma Wai Kwan''''HKSAR v Ma Wai Kwan, David''

997 Year 997 ( CMXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 1 February: Empress Teishi gives birth to Princess Shushi - she is the first child of the ...

HKLRD 761 (CA). decided by the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

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. 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. 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. While Justice

Gerald Nazareth Gerald Paul Nazareth CBE, GBS (; 27 January 1932 – 13 August 2018) was a Hong Kong senior judge, who served in Hong Kong, Brunei and Bermuda. Gerald Nazareth was born in British Kenya. He was educated at the Catholic Parochial School in Nairob ...

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 Chinese constitution during the trial. The decision in ''Ma Wai Kwan'' was upheld by the 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

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

reflected

parliamentary supremacy Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all ...

, a doctrine borne out of unwritten constitutional systems. Since China has a written constitution and that the Basic Law describes the relationship between Hong Kong and the central government unlike the colonial

Letters Patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...

and the

Royal Instructions Royal instructions are formal instructions issued to governors of the United Kingdom's colonial dependencies, and past instructions can be of continuing constitutional significance in a former colonial dependency or Dominion. Content Traditiona ...

, Chan questioned whether parliamentary supremacy still fully applies in Hong Kong after 1997.