本期《容來熙往》節目中，我們邀請到行政會議非官守議員召集人陳智思。行政會議作為一個協助特首決策的智囊團，在香港的政治經濟發展中扮演了舉足輕重的角色。對很多人而言，行政會議似乎是一個頗有「神秘感」的組織。行政會議內有何傳統、規則或程序？陳智思作為召集人的職責又是什麼？
主持︰Bernard is the convenor of the Executive Council. Under the basic law, the Executive Council is an organ assisting the CE in policy making. Except for the appointment, removal and disciplining of officials, and the adoption of measures in emergencies, the CE shall consult the Executive Council before making important policy decisions, introducing bills to the LegCo and making subordinate legislation or dissolving the LegCo. You may want to know what are the responsibility of the non-official convenor of the ExCo, and how does he comment on the overall political and economic development of HK.
陳智思是行政會議（非官守議員）的召集人，根據基本法的規定，行政會議是一個協助行政長官制訂政策的機構，除了對官員的任免和懲戒，以及一些緊急措施之外，行政長官在作出重要決策前須徵詢行政會議的意見，比如向立法會提交法案、制訂附屬法例或解散立法會等。你可能想知道行會的非官守議員召集人的職責是什麼，以及他會如何評價香港的整體政治和經濟發展狀況。
The Executive Council is presided over by the CE, and there are 16 principal officials. Can you tell us is there any tradition or rules or procedures in the ExCo? And what is your role as the convenor in the ExCo?
行政會議是由特區行政長官主持，有16名官守議員。你能不能告訴我們行政會議內有何傳統、規則或程序？以及作為召集人，你的職責是什麼？
嘉賓︰Well, I have to say Executive Council is not an easy thing for people to understand, because it has obviously a history. I mean Executive Council has been around under even the colonial days. But soon after the return of HK to the Mainland, we start off with the Executive Council.
我不得不說，行政會議不是一個容易理解的機構，因為它有一段歷史。早在港英時代，行會（時稱「行政局」）就已經存在，而在香港回歸後不久，我們就改為行政會議。
First, you have the official members. The official members of the Executive Councils are the secretaries themselves. And then you have another 16 non-official members, so I am one of the 16 non-official members. And the work, the title the convenor, I suppose I am the senior member among the non-official members, because under the colonial times, there were members and senior members, so I think my role is more like that.
首先行會內有官守議員，即特區政府的各司長、局長，接着是另外16名非官守議員，我便是其中之一。至於我的職責，以及召集人這個頭銜，我想大概由於我是非官守議員中的「首席議員」，因為在港英時期有普通議員和首席議員之分，所以我想我的角色更像是首席議員。
Now I think what one thing most people got confused, because when they hear my title as convenor, it gives the impression that I'm the one who chaired the meeting, and of course not. First of all, I'm the convenor of the non-official only, not the official members. In addition to official, there is the president of the Executive Council, and that is the Chief Executive herself, but that title is not often used because she's the Chief Executive, so nobody will refer her as the president of the Executive Council. We are more or less like the external advisors to the Chief Executive. We take part in all the proceedings, all the major decisions as well as legislation. So before the legislation being introduced to the LegCo, we would have to get the endorsement from the Executive Council.
還有一件事是大多數人感到困惑的，當人們聽到我「召集人」的頭銜，它給人的印象是我是主持會議的人，但顯然不是。首先，我只是非官守議員的召集人，而不是官守議員。除此之外，行政會議的主席就是行政長官本人，但「行會主席」這個頭銜不會經常用到，因為她是行政長官，所以沒有人會稱她為「行會主席」。我們更像是行政長官的外界顧問，會參加所有的會議程序，包括所有的重大決定以及立法。因此，在向立法會提交法案之前，法案必須得到行政會議的支持。
Again, this is another area of confusion that we don't actually vote on the issue, not us. The decision is only actually made by one person, and that is the CE himself or herself. But she or he must take into our comments at the Executive Council before that decision is deliberated, so there's no voting. But I've been a member of the Executive Council for quite some time now, I have served actually all four chief executives in the past, and never I came across a situation where there is a unanimous view against something, and then the chief executive still pushed on. That's never. At least, not in my recollection that ever happened. So the CEs do listen to the view of members, even though that we are technically just advisors.
還有一個人們容易搞不清楚的，是我們不會對某項決策進行投票。最終決定實際上只會由一個人做出，那就是行政長官本人，但在行政會議上審議決定之前，行政長官必須考慮我們的意見，但我們不用投票。我作為行政會議的議員已經很長一段時間了，我為過去的4位行政長官都服務過，從未遇過一個情況是大家一致反對某件事情時，行政長官還堅持推進，從來沒有，至少在我的記憶中沒有發生過這種情況。所以歷屆行政長官確實會聽取議員的意見，儘管嚴格來講我們只是顧問。
And the current term, you're right that we have 16 non-official members. They came from different walks of life, and about half of them have affiliation to political parties. This arrangement only started from the last term to this term. I suppose there is some sort of connectivity between the LegCo and ExCo, because in a way then ExCo have a better sense of how likely these proposed legislation or law will be received in LegCo. So collectively, we provide this advice to the CE.
至於目前的一屆行會，你說的對，我們有16個非官守議員，他們來自各行各業，當中大約有一半人是有政黨背景的，這種安排從上一屆到這一屆才開始實施。我想立法會和行政會議之間應該有某種聯繫，因為在某種程度上，行會的議員們更清楚哪些法案可能在立法會通過。因此，我們集體向行政長官提供建議。
◆ 點新聞英文節目《EyE on U 容來熙往》，由立法會議員容海恩及梁熙主持，邀請香港社會各界包括政界、商界及專業人士，分享及討論社會熱話。
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