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Foreword
On 11 May 2004 the Constitutional Development Task Force (the Task Force) published its Third Report which aimed to solicit views from the community on areas which might be considered for amendment in respect of the methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and for forming the Legislative Council in 2008. The public could submit their views through the
following channels:
- by post to the Constitutional Development Task Force Secretariat;
- by e-mail;
- by fax (number: 2523 3207); or
- the Constitutional Development Website.
2. The original consultation period for the Third Report was to expire on 31 August 2004. In August, in response to community requests, the Task Force extended the consultation deadline to 30 September 2004. Later, this was further extended to 15 October 2004, following specific requests by some Legislative Councillors. The consultation period lasted more than five
months.
Public Submissions
3. At the close of the consultation period, we had received a total of 488 written submissions from individuals and organizations, relating to the methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and for forming the Legislative Council in 2008. Among them, 118 submissions were put forward by organizations. All the submissions, save for those which requested
confidentiality, are copied at Appendix I to this Report. The submissions have been arranged, where possible, in chronological order of the date of submission. Separately, fifteen submissions for which confidentiality is requested have been handled accordingly.
4. In addition, we have received 43 letters and electronic mail addressed to the Task Force the contents of which are, in our view, outside the scope of the Third Report or constitutional development. We have therefore not included them in Appendix I to this Report. A set of these submissions have been deposited with the Wan Chai District
Office Public Enquiry Services Centre at G/F, 2 O'Brien Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong for public inspection.
Constitutional Development Website
5. With respect to the nine specific areas set out in Appendix 5 to the Third Report, we have provided, in respect of each area, a stand-alone e-mail reply facility. For statistical purposes, we treat e-mail replies from the same individual on the same date as one entry, whilst e-mail replies from the same individual received on a different date are treated as
different entries.
Suspected Virus-infected Electronic Mail and Advertisements
6. During the consultation period, according to notifications issued to us by the Central Internet Gateway of the HKSAR Government, over 2000 pieces of electronic mail addressed to the mailbox were electronic mail advertisements or were suspected of being virus-infected. We were unable to process them further. For other submissions that came by electronic mail, we
have removed advertising messages, if any, contained in them. The contents of these submissions are otherwise published in their entirety.
Handling of Personal Data
7. In order to safeguard privacy, we have removed senders' addresses when publishing their electronic mail in this Report. Other personal data, such as residential addresses, Identity Card numbers and telephone numbers, where provided, have also been removed.
8. Similarly, we have adopted the same approach in handling submissions which came in by post or by fax. All personal data, including return addresses, facsimile numbers, and Identity Card numbers have been removed.
9. Where the senders requested anonymity, we respect their wishes and have removed their names from the relevant submissions. We have also encountered a number of submissions in which the senders have not provided us with a valid return address or facsimile number. We are unable to ascertain whether these persons want their identity to be made known when their views
are published. In these circumstances, we have removed their names from the relevant submissions.
Copyright Handling
10. Some submissions to the Task Force contained newspaper cuttings or extracts of books/magazines. As these articles involve copyright, they are not published in this Report unless the senders have shown that they have obtained written consent from the publisher or the copyright owner concerned.
Submissions after 15 October 2004
11. We have included in Appendix I [hyperlink] to this Report submissions which are dated 15 October 2004 or before. In addition, over 420 submissions have been received after that date. We have adopted the same approach as outlined above in processing these submissions and have included them in the Addendum to Appendix I for public
information. Separately, 35 submissions which have requested confidentiality have been handled accordingly. There are another six submissions which, in our view, are outside the scope of the Third Report or constitutional development and have been handled in accordance with paragraph 4 above.
12. If there is anything amiss or any opinion has been left out in compiling this Report, we will issue a corrigendum as and when necessary. We apologise for any inconvenience that might be caused.
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