| Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region | |
|---|---|
| Chinese:香港特別行政區政府 | |
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| Overview | |
| Established | 1 July 1997; 28 years ago (1997-07-01) |
| Polity | Hong Kong |
| Leader | Chief Executive (John Lee) |
| Appointed by | State Council of China upon selection by theElection Committee (Chief Executive) and on the nomination of the Chief Executive (principal officials) |
| Main organ | Executive Council |
| Ministries | 15 bureaux (full list) |
| Responsible to | Legislative Council |
| Annual budget | HK$776.9 billion (2024/25) |
| Headquarters | Central Government Complex |
| Website | gov.hk |
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jyutping | Hoeng1 gong2 Dak6 bit6 Hang4 zing3 keoi1 Zing3 fu2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| CantoneseYale | Hēunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui Jingfú | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Abbreviation | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 香港政府 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jyutping | Hoeng1 gong2 Zing3 fu2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| CantoneseYale | Hēunggóng Jingfú | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Politics andgovernment ofHong Kong |
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Court of Final Appeal
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TheGovernment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region[1] (commonly known as theHong Kong Government orHKSAR Government) is theexecutive branch of theHong Kong Special Administrative Region. It was established on 1 July 1997, following thehandover of Hong Kong. It is led by theChief Executive, who together with theprincipal officials form theExecutive Council, which is the government's de factocabinet.[2]
The Chief Executive, who is responsible to both Hong Kong and theCentral People's Government in Beijing, is appointed by theState Council of China after being elected by the 1500-memberElection Committee. The Chief Executive in turn nominates the principal officials for appointment by the State Council of China.[1] TheChief Secretary, who is themost senior principal official, leads theGovernment Secretariat, which contains most of thegovernment's departments and permanent bureaucracy.[2]
Under the principle ofseparation of powers, members of the government, including both political appointees and civil servants, cannot run for election to the Legislative Council,[3] to which the government is accountable. The government must rely on the legislature to enactprimary legislation andgrant supply.[1]
Under the "one country, two systems" constitutional principle, the Government is, in law, exclusively in charge of Hong Kong's internal affairs and specifiedexternal relations. TheCentral People's Government, from which the Hong Kong government is financially independent, is responsible for Hong Kong'sdefence andforeign policy, while decisions made by theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress can, in certain circumstances, override Hong Kong courts. The Hong Kong SAR government replaced the formerBritish Hong Kong Government (1842–1997) in 1997. Despite gradually evolving, the general governmental structure was inherited fromBritish Hong Kong.
On February 28, 2024, the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong,Paul Chan, announced the Special Administrative Region's (SAR) government budget for the fiscal year 2024 to 2025 (“2024–25 Budget”).[4] Under the 2024-25 budget, total government expenditure is set to rise by 6.7 percent to HK$776.9 billion (US$99.23 billion).[5]
As acrown colony and later adependent territory of theUnited Kingdom, the government's executive authority was vested in theBritish monarch, which was exercised by thegovernor of Hong Kong as the representative ofthe Crown. The governor was appointed by the monarch on theadvice of the British government.[2] Unlike self-governingdominions, 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 theBritish government in London, making the British Hong Kong government constitutionally subservient to Westminster. Article VIII of theHong Kong Letters Patent conferred on the governor alegislative power, authorising him, "by and with theadvice and consent of theLegislative Council", to "make laws for thepeace, order and good government of the Colony".[6]
In practice, executive power was exercised by thegovernor 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 makesecondary legislation, and to consider appeals, petitions and objections.[7]
Upon thehandover 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 fromthe Crown to theNational People's Congress. Article 2 of theBasic Law states that the National People's Congressauthorises the HKSAR to enjoy executive power,[8] 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]
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.[9][10][11] 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 forprivate 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.[10]
The Chief Executive is the head of the Region andhead of government of Hong Kong. TheBasic Law designates a system of governance led by a Chief Executive and anExecutive Council, under the principles ofseparation of powers,[11] with a two-tiered system of semi-representative government and an independent judiciary. The Chief Executive is elected by anElection Committee, a 1500-memberelectoral college consisting of individuals and bodies (i.e. special interest groups) elected within 40functional constituencies defined in the Basic Law. The winner is then appointed to the position by thePremier of the People's Republic of China. The Chief Executive is responsible for implementing the Basic Law, signing bills and budgets, promulgating laws, making decisions on government policies, and issuing Executive Orders. Then Chief Executive,Carrie Lam, began exercise of her unfettered residual powers of law-making by decree on 4 October 2019, under theEmergency Regulations Ordinance, Chapter 241 of the Laws of Hong Kong, bypassing the legislature.[12][13]
As of 1 July 1997,[update] theChief Executive of Hong Kong officially replaced theGovernor of Hong Kong as the head of the government for Hong Kong following thehandover. The Chief Executive is assisted by theChief Secretary for Administration and theFinancial Secretary, and other secretaries who heads policy bureaus. The secretaries for each government affairs are appointed by theState Council of China on the nomination of the Chief Executive. TheSecretary for Justice (SJ) is responsible for legal matters of the government and prosecution for criminal cases in the territory. TheIndependent Commission Against Corruption andAudit Commission report directly to the Chief Executive. The current Chief Executive isJohn Lee.
TheExecutive Council decides on matters of policy, the introduction of bills to theLegislative 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 theLegislative Council, and other influential public personnels. They serve for a period no longer than the expiry of the Chief Executive's term of office.[14]
In a system popularly called thePrincipal Officials Accountability System introduced by then Chief ExecutiveTung Chee Hwa in July 2002, all principal officials, including the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary, Secretary for Justice, heads of government bureaux and the Director of theChief Executive's Office would no longer be politically neutral career civil servants, but would all be political appointees chosen by the Chief Executive from within or outside thecivil service. The system was portrayed as the key to solve previous administrative problems, notably the co-operation of high-ranking civil servants with the Chief Executive.
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.
The government released a report on the Further Development of the Political Appointment System[15] on 17 October 2007.[16] 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 theChief 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.[17]
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.[18]
The government takes the form of a three-tier structure, which was first put in place by GovernorMurray MacLehose following the recommendations in theMcKinsey Report.
The executive as a whole is led by the Chief Executive, who is supported by his three most senior ministers: theChief Secretary,Financial Secretary andSecretary for Justice. Constitutionally known as the "secretaries of departments",[1] they each oversee multiple policy bureaux and agencies, except for the secretary for justice, who only heads theDepartment of Justice. The policy bureaux are in turn led by policy secretaries,[a] who are politically appointed ministers. The heads of the bureaux are supported bypermanent secretaries, who are the highest-ranking civil servants in the bureaux. The final layer consists of departments, which are overseen by the bureaux, and are led by politically neutral civil servants.
The hierarchical structure of the government secretariat and government departments in Chief ExecutiveJohn Lee'sadministration since 1 July 2022 is as follows:
| Government secretariat | Government departments | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
| Home and Youth Affairs Bureau | ||
| Labour and Welfare Bureau | ||
| Security Bureau | ||
| 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 |
TheOffice 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.
ThePolicy Innovation and Co-ordination Office,Independent Commission Against Corruption,Audit Commission,Office of the Ombudsman andPublic Service Commission report to theChief Executive directly.
The Human Resources Planning and Poverty Co-ordination Office,Administration Wing andLegal Aid Department are under the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office.
TheOffice of the Government Economist and theHong Kong Monetary Authority are under the Financial Secretary's Office.
TheDepartment of Justice is led by theSecretary for Justice (Hong Kong) (Legal Department andAttorney General before the transfer of sovereignty). The Secretary for Justice (SJ) is responsible for all prosecutions in Hong Kong, drafting all government legislation, and advising other policy bureaux and departments of the government on a vast array of legal issues.
The department consists of theProsecutions Division, the Civil Division, theConstitutional and Policy Affairs Division, theLaw Drafting Division, the International Law Division, the National Security Prosecutions Division and the Administration and Development Division.
The current fifteen policy bureaux is a result of the2022 government reorganisation, which added, expanded, and re-titled several bureaux. Currently, nine bureaux reports to theChief Secretary for Administration, and the other six reports to theFinancial Secretary. The Chief Secretary for Administration is customarily considered to be the leader of the bureaux.
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