Introduction

This database contains the information of LegCo committees, namely the name of all LegCo committees established since the fifth term and their corresponding member lists and meeting schedule.

For more details of the database, see https://www.legco.gov.hk/odata/english/schedule-db.html.

Key Identifiers

Here are the key identifies that is useful for locating the necessary data from the Meeting Schedule Database:

  • CommitteeID is the numerical ID of a LegCo committee.

  • SlotID is the numerical ID of a Council or committee meeting slot.

  • MemberID is the numerical ID of a LegCo member. Note that it is a separate identifier from the SpeakerID of the Hansard Database.

  • TermID is the numerical ID of a LegCo term. Note that the nominal number of a TermID is less than that of the term number by 1, i.e. the TermID of the fifth term is 4.

  • SessionID is the numerical ID of a LegCo session. A LegCo session typically begins in October to September next year. As a term is four years, there are four sessions in one term.

  • MeetID is the numerical ID of a Council or committee meeting. Although similar it is a separate identifier from the SlotID and is only used to match with records from the Attendance Database.

Total Count

All functions in this database (except term()) have an option to return only the total count of the records matching the specified parameters instead of returning the data frame containing the result. To activate this option, specify count = TRUE:

# Fetch the total number of members in the Bills Committee on Fugitive Offenders and
# Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019
membership(committee_id = 3005, count = TRUE)
## [1] "62"

This database is accessible with the following functions:

term()

term() fetches the details of one or more LegCo term(s).

# Fetch all LegCo terms
term()
##   TermID      Term           StartDate             EndDate
## 1      4 2012-2016 2012-10-01 00:00:00 2016-09-30 00:00:00
## 2      5 2016-2020 2016-10-01 00:00:00 2020-09-30 00:00:00

session()

session() fetches the details of one or more LegCo session(s).

# Fetch all LegCo sessions of the fifth term
session(term_id = 4)
##   SessionID SessionCode TermID           StartDate             EndDate
## 1        13   2012-2013      4 2012-10-01 00:00:00 2013-10-08 00:00:00
## 2        14   2013-2014      4 2013-10-09 00:00:00 2014-10-07 00:00:00
## 3        15   2014-2015      4 2014-10-08 00:00:00 2015-09-30 00:00:00
## 4        16   2015-2016      4 2015-10-14 00:00:00 2016-09-30 00:00:00

committee()

committee() fetches the details of one or more LegCo committee(s).

# Fetch all LegCo committees from the sixth term
v <- committee(term_id = 5)
head(v)
##   CommitteeID CommitteeCode                                  NameEng
## 1        2660        AM-CFS     Committee on Facilities and Services
## 2        2662        AM-CMA Committee on Members' Operating Expenses
## 3        2663        AM-CPM           Committee on Personnel Matters
## 4        2659        AM-LCC       The Legislative Council Commission
## 5        2785        AM-LCC       The Legislative Council Commission
## 6        2912        AM-LCC       The Legislative Council Commission
##                  NameChi TermID
## 1       設施及服務委員會      5
## 2 議員工作開支事宜委員會      5
## 3             人事委員會      5
## 4   立法會行政管理委員會      5
## 5   立法會行政管理委員會      5
## 6   立法會行政管理委員會      5
##                                                         HomeUrlEng
## 1   http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/lcc/lcc_fs/fs_1620.htm
## 2 http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/lcc/lcc_moe/moe_1620.htm
## 3   http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/lcc/lcc_pm/pm_1620.htm
## 4         http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/lcc/lcc_1620.htm
## 5         http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/lcc/lcc_1620.htm
## 6         http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/lcc/lcc_1620.htm
##                                                         HomeUrlChi
## 1   http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/chinese/lcc/lcc_fs/fs_1620.htm
## 2 http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/chinese/lcc/lcc_moe/moe_1620.htm
## 3   http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/chinese/lcc/lcc_pm/pm_1620.htm
## 4         http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/chinese/lcc/lcc_1620.htm
## 5         http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/chinese/lcc/lcc_1620.htm
## 6         http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/chinese/lcc/lcc_1620.htm

membership()

membership() fetches the membership of one or more LegCo member(s) or the members of one or more committee(s).

# Fetch members of the Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
v <- membership(committee_id = 2704)
head(v)
##   MemberID CommitteeID                                    NameEng
## 1      258        2704 Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 2      835        2704 Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 3      846        2704 Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 4      274        2704 Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 5      134        2704 Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 6      853        2704 Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
##              NameChi PostEng PostChi       PostStartDate         PostEndDate
## 1 墟市事宜小組委員會  Member    委員 2016-12-03 00:00:00 2016-12-07 23:59:59
## 2 墟市事宜小組委員會  Member    委員 2016-12-03 00:00:00                <NA>
## 3 墟市事宜小組委員會  Member    委員 2016-12-03 00:00:00                <NA>
## 4 墟市事宜小組委員會  Member    委員 2016-12-03 00:00:00 2017-02-22 23:59:59
## 5 墟市事宜小組委員會  Member    委員 2016-12-03 00:00:00                <NA>
## 6 墟市事宜小組委員會  Member    委員 2016-12-03 00:00:00                <NA>
##   TermID TitleEng SurnameEng FirstnameEng EnglishName HonourableEng SurnameChi
## 1      5 Prof Hon        LEE    Kok-long       Joseph       SBS, JP         李
## 2      5      Hon      LEUNG   Che-cheung               SBS, MH, JP         梁
## 3      5      Hon      LEUNG                  Kenneth                       梁
## 4      5   Dr Hon      LEUNG      Mei-fun   Priscilla       SBS, JP         梁
## 5      5      Hon      LEUNG    Yiu-chung                                   梁
## 6      5      Hon       LIAO  Cheung-kong      Martin       GBS, JP         廖
##   FirstnameChi TitleChi HonourableChi
## 1         國麟     議員       SBS, JP
## 2         志祥     議員   SBS, MH, JP
## 3         繼昌     議員              
## 4         美芬     議員       SBS, JP
## 5         耀忠     議員              
## 6         長江     議員       GBS, JP
# Fetch the committee membership of Hon Wu Chi-wai
v <- membership(member_id = 834)
head(v)
##   MemberID CommitteeID                        NameEng        NameChi PostEng
## 1      834        2025                House Committee     內務委員會  Member
## 2      834        2045              Finance Committee     財務委員會  Member
## 3      834        2095           Panel on Development 發展事務委員會  Member
## 4      834        2079             Panel on Transport 交通事務委員會  Member
## 5      834        2088          Panel on Home Affairs 民政事務委員會  Member
## 6      834        2081 Panel on Environmental Affairs 環境事務委員會  Member
##   PostChi       PostStartDate PostEndDate TermID TitleEng SurnameEng
## 1    委員 2012-10-10 11:00:00        <NA>      4      Hon         WU
## 2    委員 2012-10-10 14:30:00        <NA>      4      Hon         WU
## 3    委員 2012-10-13 00:00:00        <NA>      4      Hon         WU
## 4    委員 2012-10-13 00:00:00        <NA>      4      Hon         WU
## 5    委員 2012-10-16 00:00:00        <NA>      4      Hon         WU
## 6    委員 2012-10-13 00:00:00        <NA>      4      Hon         WU
##   FirstnameEng EnglishName HonourableEng SurnameChi FirstnameChi TitleChi
## 1      Chi-wai                        MH         胡         志偉     議員
## 2      Chi-wai                        MH         胡         志偉     議員
## 3      Chi-wai                        MH         胡         志偉     議員
## 4      Chi-wai                        MH         胡         志偉     議員
## 5      Chi-wai                        MH         胡         志偉     議員
## 6      Chi-wai                        MH         胡         志偉     議員
##   HonourableChi
## 1            MH
## 2            MH
## 3            MH
## 4            MH
## 5            MH
## 6            MH

member()

member() fetches the basic information of one or more LegCo members.

# Fetch full list of members
v <- member()
head(v)
##   MemberID  TitleEng SurnameEng FirstnameEng EnglishName HonourableEng
## 1      167       Hon         NG   Leung-sing                   SBS, JP
## 2      188       Hon        SIN    Chung-kai                   SBS, JP
## 3      924                KWONG      Chun-yu                          
## 4      847 Ir Dr Hon         LO     Wai-kwok               SBS, MH, JP
## 5      849       Hon       KWOK    Wai-keung                        JP
## 6      273       Hon       CHAN      Kin-por                   GBS, JP
##   SurnameChi FirstnameChi TitleChi HonourableChi LatestTermID
## 1         吳         亮星     議員       SBS, JP            4
## 2         單         仲偕     議員       SBS, JP            4
## 3         鄺         俊宇     議員                          5
## 4         盧         偉國     議員   SBS, MH, JP            5
## 5         郭         偉强     議員            JP            5
## 6         陳         健波     議員       GBS, JP            5

Note that member() only returns the latest term that the member has served as LatestTermID. To fetch all the terms served by a member since the fifth term, use member_term() instead.

member_term()

member_term() fetches the all the term served by one or more LegCo members.

#Fetches the term served by Hon Chan Kin-por and Kwong Chun-yu
member_term(member_id = c(273, 924))
##   MemberID TermID
## 1      273      4
## 2      273      5
## 3      924      5

Note that members who have served more than one term will have more than one entry, e.g. the member with MemberID 245 as shown above.

meeting()

meeting() fetches the meeting schedule of Council or committees. Note that this function does not take CommitteeID as a filtering parameter. Use meeting_committee() instead if needed.

# Fetch all meeting conducted on March 20, 2019
meeting(from = "2019-03-20", to = "2019-03-20")
##   SlotID MeetID
## 1 175978 133311
## 2 178278 135602
## 3 177295 134619
##                                                                                                             SubjectEng
## 1 Council meeting (Regular meeting)\n(or to be held immediately after the meeting for Chief Executive’s Question Time)
## 2                                                                Council meeting (The Chief Executive's Question Time)
## 3                                                                                 Meeting of Public Works Subcommittee
##                                                    SubjectChi
## 1 立法會會議 (例行會議)\n(或緊接行政長官質詢時間的會議後開始)
## 2                               立法會會議 (行政長官質詢時間)
## 3                                          工務小組委員會會議
##         StartDateTime MeetingTypeEng MeetingTypeChi VenueCode      VenueNameEng
## 1 2019-03-20 11:30:00           Open       公開會議   Chamber           Chamber
## 2 2019-03-20 11:00:00           Open       公開會議   Chamber           Chamber
## 3 2019-03-20 08:30:00           Open       公開會議      Rm 1 Conference Room 1
##   VenueNameChi TermID
## 1       會議廳      5
## 2       會議廳      5
## 3      會議室1      5
##                                                              AgendaUrlEng
## 1   http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr18-19/english/counmtg/agenda/cm20190320.htm
## 2  http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr18-19/english/counmtg/agenda/cm20190320q.htm
## 3 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr18-19/english/fc/pwsc/agenda/pwsc20190320.htm
##                                                              AgendaUrlChi
## 1   http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr18-19/chinese/counmtg/agenda/cm20190320.htm
## 2  http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr18-19/chinese/counmtg/agenda/cm20190320q.htm
## 3 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr18-19/chinese/fc/pwsc/agenda/pwsc20190320.htm

meeting_committee()

meeting_committee() fetches the meeting schedule of Council or committees. Note that this function does not support dates as filtering parameters. Use meeting() instead if needed.

# Fetch all meetings of Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
v <- meeting_committee(committee_id = 2704)
head(v)
##   CommitteeID SlotID                                            SubjectEng
## 1        2704 163894 Meeting of Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 2        2704 164380 Meeting of Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 3        2704 164386 Meeting of Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 4        2704 164409 Meeting of Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 5        2704 164058 Meeting of Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
## 6        2704 163292 Meeting of Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
##               SubjectChi       StartDateTime MeetingTypeEng MeetingTypeChi
## 1 墟市事宜小組委員會會議 2016-12-06 15:00:00           Open       公開會議
## 2 墟市事宜小組委員會會議 2016-12-20 09:00:00           Open       公開會議
## 3 墟市事宜小組委員會會議 2017-01-10 16:30:00           Open       公開會議
## 4 墟市事宜小組委員會會議 2017-01-21 09:00:00           Open       公開會議
## 5 墟市事宜小組委員會會議 2017-02-21 08:30:00           Open       公開會議
## 6 墟市事宜小組委員會會議 2017-05-22 14:30:00           Open       公開會議
##   VenueCode      VenueNameEng VenueNameChi TermID
## 1      Rm 3 Conference Room 3      會議室3      5
## 2      Rm 1 Conference Room 1      會議室1      5
## 3      Rm 3 Conference Room 3      會議室3      5
## 4      Rm 1 Conference Room 1      會議室1      5
## 5      Rm 3 Conference Room 3      會議室3      5
## 6      Rm 1 Conference Room 1      會議室1      5
##                                                                      AgendaUrlEng
## 1 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/english/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220161206.htm
## 2 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/english/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220161220.htm
## 3 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/english/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220170110.htm
## 4 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/english/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220170121.htm
## 5 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/english/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220170221.htm
## 6 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/english/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220170522.htm
##                                                                      AgendaUrlChi
## 1 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/chinese/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220161206.htm
## 2 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/chinese/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220161220.htm
## 3 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/chinese/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220170110.htm
## 4 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/chinese/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220170121.htm
## 5 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/chinese/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220170221.htm
## 6 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/chinese/hc/sub_com/hs02/agenda/hs0220170522.htm