Legislative Council Annual Report 2016-2017

Bills Committees The House Committee may allocate bills, other than the Appropriation Bill and bills not referred to the House Committee by the Council, to Bills Committees for detailed scrutiny. A Bills Committee will consider the principles and merits of the bill concerned and its detailed provisions, and may propose amendments to the bill. All Members other than the President may join any Bills Committee. The chairman of each Bills Committee is elected from among its members. After a Bills Committee has completed scrutiny of a bill, it notifies the House Committee and advises theCommittee inwritingof itsdeliberations. BillsCommittees aredissolved upon enactment of the bills concerned or as decided by the House Committee. The maximum number of Bills Committees that may be in operation at any one time is limited to 16. When more than 16 Bills Committees are formed, a queuing systemwill automatically be activated. Bills Committees in operation during the session 26 Bills scrutinized 28 Bills Committees which completed their scrutiny work and reported to the House Committee 11 Bills Committees which were still in operation by the end of the session 15 Meetings of Bills Committees held 67 A meeting of a Bills Committee. Legislative Council Annual Report 2016-2017 61