Legislative Council (Hong Kong)

Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 香港特別行政區立法會
6th Legislative Council
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	26 June 1843 (1843-06-26) (Colonial) 25 January 1997 (1997-01-25) (Provisional) 1 July 1998 (1998-07-01) (HKSAR)
Leadership
President	Andrew Leung, BPA Since 12 October 2016
Structure
Seats	70
Political groups	Pro-Beijing (40)      DAB (12)      BPA (7)      FTU (5)      Liberal (4)      NPP (3)      New Forum (1)      FLU (1)      Independents (7) Pro-democrats (26)      Democratic (7)      Civic (5)      Prof Commons (2)      People Power (1)      LSD (1)      Labour (1)      Demosisto (1)      HK First (1)      NWSC (1)      PTU (1)      Independents (5) Localist (1)      Civic Passion (1) Unaffiliated (1)      Independent (1) Vacant (2)
Elections
Voting system	Largest remainder method, Instant-runoff and first-past-the-post
Last election	4 September 2016
Meeting place
Legislative Council Complex, 1 Legislative Council Road, Tamar, Hong Kong 22°16′52″N 114°09′58″E / 22.281087°N 114.166127°E / 22.281087; 114.166127Coordinates: 22°16′52″N 114°09′58″E / 22.281087°N 114.166127°E / 22.281087; 114.166127
Website
legco.gov.hk

Legislative Council
The Legislative Council Complex, from 2011
Traditional Chinese	立法會
Simplified Chinese	立法会
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lìfǎ Huì Wade–Giles Li4-fa3 Hui4 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Laahp-faat Wúih Jyutping laap6 faat3 wui5
Name before 1997
Chinese	立法局
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lìfǎ Jú Wade–Giles Li4-fa3 Chü2 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Laahp-faat Guhk Jyutping laap6 faat3 guk6

The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Chinese: 香港特別行政區立法會; LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.

The legislature is a semi-democratically elected body comprising 70 members, 35 of which are directly elected through five geographical constituencies (GCs) under the proportional representation system with largest remainder method and Hare quota, while the other 30 are indirectly elected through trade-based functional constituencies (FCs) with limited electorates. Under the constitutional reform package passed in 2010, there are five District Council (Second) new functional constituencies nominated by the District Councillors and elected by territory-wide electorates.

The Legislative Council was first established in 1843 under the Charter of the Colony of Hong Kong as an advisory council to the Governor. The powers and functions of the legislature expanded throughout its history. Today the main functions of the Legislative Council are to enact, amend or repeal laws; examine and approve budgets, taxation and public expenditure; and raise questions on the work of the government. In addition, the Legislative Council is also given the power to endorse the appointment and removal of the judges of the Court of Final Appeal and the Chief Judge of the High Court, as well as the power to impeach the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.