Subsidiary legislation subject to the negative vetting procedure is first published in the Gazette and then laid on the table of the Council at its meetings. The Council may amend a piece of subsidiary legislation by a resolution passed at a Council meeting held not later than 28 days after the meeting at which it was so laid. This period for scrutinizing and amending subsidiary legislation is called the vetting period.

The vetting period of any subsidiary legislation may be extended by a resolution passed at a Council meeting before its expiry. The vetting period may be extended to the first Council meeting held on or after the 21st day from the original expiry day.

Unless otherwise provided for in the subsidiary legislation concerned, a piece of subsidiary legislation comes into operation on the day it is published in the Gazette. It continues to operate unless a resolution to amend it has been passed and until the date of publication in the Gazette of such a resolution.

Section 34 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) provides for the legal basis for the above procedure.

Check the Gazette of the relevant publication date published by the Government for details of the subsidiary legislation.