香港立法会功能界别的源起、实证表现及未来发展

The Origin,Empirical Performance and Future Development of Functional Constituency of Hong Kong Legislative Council

鉴于香港回归前,港英政府时期的'功能界别议席制度'在香港社会中的独特作用,中央政府在香港回归后将这一制度加以改造后保留。香港回归以来的实践表明,立法会功能界别议席为香港各界别团体的利益表达发挥了非常积极的作用。不过,香港社会各界对功能界别议席改革的态度颇有分歧,其焦点集中在功能界别的存废问题上。未来功能界别的改革走向并不单单取决于其自身,更取决于香港社会特殊的政治生态背景和一系列复杂的政治因素。因此有必要对功能界别的源起、变迁和其在立法会中的实证表现,以及对香港法院涉及功能界别选举诉讼的司法意见进行研究,将对于功能界别制度性质的讨论放置在《基本法》的民主框架之下。虽然目前功能界别最为突出的问题表现在选举权利的不平等性和行业代表制产生的民主认受性较低上,但鉴于《基本法》对香港政治发展所作出的原则性限定,在考虑这一制度所存在的实际作用并对这一制度做出保留的前提下,对其做出改造和变革也必须循序渐进并且符合香港的基本政治现状。

In view of the unique role played by the functional constituency during British colonial governance and after the return of Hong Kong to China,the Chinese Central Government retained the system after reforming it.The practice of Hong Kong since its return has shown that functional constituencies have played a very positive role in the expression of interests of various groups in Hong Kong.However,the community in Hong Kong is divided on the reform of functional constituency seats.Its focus is on the issue of the retention and abolition of functional constituencies.The future reform of functional constituencies does not depend on its own,but also on the special political and ecological background of Hong Kong society and a series of complex political factors.Therefore,it is necessary to study the origins and changes of the functional constituencies,their empirical performance in the Legislative Council,and the judicial opinions in the Hong Kong courts regarding functional constituency election lawsuits,and place a discussion on the nature of functional constituencies in the democratic framework of the Basic Law.Although the most prominent problems about current functional constituencies are the inequality of electoral rights and the low degree of democratic acceptance generated by the industry representative system.Given the principled limits imposed on the political development of Hong Kong by the Basic Law,given the actual role and the preservation of the system,it is necessary to reform and change it and it must be gradual in line with the basic political situation in Hong Kong when we are considering it.