周年大選黑箱作業事件相關文獻(12)

Dear Union Members,

In respect of the Ninth Emergency Council Meeting (the “Meeting”) of the Union Council on 1 January 2013, I wish to clarify on my decision as to the adjournment of the Meeting and the invalidity on any so-called motion or resolution on vacating official members of the Union Elections Committee.

A. Interruption and Adjournment

1. At around 0445 on 2 January 2013, some members of the Union Council addressed me that the Meeting has taken place up to 6 hours.
Under Union Council By-laws Section III Sub-section V Article 3, the proceedings of the Union Council shall, at that moment, be interrupted unless:

i. Council Chairperson is at that moment of the
opinion that proceedings can be concluded by short deferment of moment of interruption and thus exercises; or

ii. At the moment of interruption a voting is in
progress (Article 4 in the same Sub-section).

“3. At a time 6 hours after the commencement of the meeting, the proceedings on any business, agendum or motion under consideration shall be interrupted, and if the Union Council is in committee, the Union Council shall resume: provided that, if the Council Chairperson is of the
opinion that the proceedings on which the Union Council is engaged could be concluded by a short deferment of the moment of interruption, he may in his discretion defer interrupting the business”

“4. If a voting is in progress at the moment of interruption, the business shall not be interrupted until after the declaration of the results of the voting”

2. At the moment of the said interruption by a councillor, I regarded that the matter in hand could be resolved after short deferment since the motion in discussion was about the establishment of the Election Commission for Annual Election 2013 and the Election to the Undergraduate Student Membership to the Board of Faculties 2013.

3. However, out of the estimation of me, the discussion lasted for more than an hour, which was actually not short deferment. Therefore, I decided after resolving the motion on the Election Commission and related procedural motion, the Meeting shall be interrupted, in accordance with the Union Council By-laws.

4. Before resolution was made as to the Election Commission and the accompanying procedural motions, during the so-called “short deferment” (which actually lasted for more than an hour), I have repeatedly asked if councillors can reach consent or agreement as to arrangement of subsequent meaning. However, no such conclusion was
reached during that time. After resolution on the motion of Election Commission was reached (a procedural motion to withdraw the motion was passed and all procedural motion behind was deemed withdrawn as well), without further motion to be handled, the Meeting had to end at sharp.

5. Someone argues that the Meeting could not end until the Council has resolved about the date of subsequent meeting. According to Union Council By-laws Section III Sub-section V (5), after the interruption, only motions on adjournment or deferment COULD BE entered upon the interruption. Based on the wordings used, it is therefore OPTIONAL BUT NOT MANDATORY for the Union Council to
consider the motion. If the Union Council can only be interrupted and stopped upon a resolution on date of meeting, the Meeting might be further unreasonably extended for hours before councillors can finish discussion on the deferment or adjournment, which is likely not the
legislative intention of the Union Council By-laws (imposing a 6-hour limit to prevent Union Council By-laws from being unless consent by ALL Council members). Since there was no motion dealing with adjournment or resolution of date of meeting during the deferment period, the Union Council Ninth Emergency Meeting shall be stopped and any further meeting shall be regarded as another meeting session.

6. I exercised the power of adjournment conferred under Union Council Standing Orders Section E, Article 2:

"The Council Chairperson shall declare … adjourning or closing of the meeting, direct the discussion, ensure observance of the Standing Orders and other statutory regulations governing procedure of the Council, accord the right to speak, put motions to the vote and declare decisions. He shall rule on points of order."

7. I have the obligation to ensure the Union Council meetings are in observance of all statutory regulations as to Council procedures, including both Union Council By-laws and Standing Orders. Therefore, authorized under the aforesaid Section E Article 2, Council Chairperson is authorized and under the necessity to apply the Union Council By-
laws and Standing Orders as to closing and adjournment of the Meeting. It is therefore wrong for some councillors to only refer to the Standing Orders when determining how the Meeting shall be ended. The provisions in the Union Council By-laws shall also be taken into account and read in conjunction with the Standing Orders.

8. The adjournment of the Meeting was valid under the Union Council By-laws and Standing Orders.

B. “Adjournment” motion shall only be a procedural motion

9. During the “deferment” period, there was a motion which proposed to adjourn the meeting to a specified later time. However this motion was proposed when the motion on the Election Commission was in discussion and after a motion proposed to withdraw the said motion.

10. At the time when this motion was proposed, I announced it to be handled. Affirmed by the proposer of this “adjournment” motion, it shall be regarded as a procedural motion under Union Council Standing Orders Section G (III)

“19. The Council Chairman shall allow the following procedural motions to be put when there is already a motion or amendment on table in the following order or precedence(i.e. Motion (a) is of the highest rank
whereas Motion (n) is the lowest): (amended in CM6 1996)

a. Motion to withdraw a motion;

b. Motion to adjourn the meeting to a later time/date;

11. Clearly stipulated in the above provisions of the Standing Orders, with a motion to withdraw a motion already on table for discussion, that “adjournment” motion shall in principle not be put as the priority or ranking of the latter is lower.As the procedural motion to withdraw the Election Commission was passed without objection, the
“adjournment” motion shall also be withdrawn long with the original motion concerning the establishment of the Election Commission. At the end, the “adjournment” motion was not and could not be put for Council’s discussion.

C. Invalidity of the so-called “extension” of the Meeting

12. The constitutional ground that some councillors used to support their “election of acting Council Chairperson” (i.e. Ms. LI Wai Yan Vivian, Representative of Education Society, HKUSU) is without grounds, since in Union Council Standing Orders Article 2 of Section A, that:

"In the absence of the Council Chairperson, Councillors present at the meeting may elect one among themselves to act as Council Chairperson of that particular meeting; the person so elected shall enjoy all powers conferred by these Standing Orders on the Council Chairperson at that particular meeting."

13. It is only the power given to the Councillors when the Council is in progress, but not after the adjournment is formally declared. Therefore this part of so-called “extension” of the Meeting is invalid and all alleged “resolutions carried” were not binding or formally recognized.

D. Conclusion

14. As the “extension” part of the Meeting is invalid, there has not been any change of the composition of the Union Elections Committee. Any of the alleged vacation of duty of the Union Elections Committee members in the said unrecognized “extension” is ineffective and invalid. Thank you for your kind attention.

With warmest regards,

Tam Chun Sing
Chairperson of the Union Council

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