PART I: NAME AND PURPOSE

1.  The name of this organization shall be “Hong Kong Public Administration Association” (HKPAA). Hereinafter referred to as the  Association. The name of the Association in Chinese shall be “香 港 公 共 行 政 學 會”.

2. The registered address of the Association is: c/o School of Professional Education and Executive Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The postal address of the Association is: General Post Office Box 3350, Hong Kong.

3. The purposes of the Association are:
     a. to enhance the quality of practice and teaching of public administration in Hong Kong;
     b. to provide a forum for the identification and discussion of public administration issues; and
     c. to stimulate discussion and to increase public understanding on issues of importance and relevance to public administration.

4. The Association is not permitted to engage in partisan political activities.

​

PART II: MEMBERSHIP

5. Membership is open to any person interested in the purposes of the Association. In applying for membership applicants shall submit to the Association completed application forms. They shall become members when their applications are approved by the Executive Committee, and when they have paid their membership fees. Membership fees paid shall not be recoverable.

 

6. Members are entitled:-

     a. to attend meetings;

     b. to elect, be elected, propose and vote;

     c. to implement and participate in activities organized by the Association; and

     d. to enjoy all facilities provided by the Association.

​

6(a). Having regard to the admission criteria in Article 6(b) below, the categories of membership are:

     a. Fellow (designation as FHKPAA),

     b. Member (designation as MHKPAA), and

     c. Student Member.

6(b). The admission criteria of the members in Article 6(a) shall be:

Fellows

Fellows shall be nominated by the Executive Committee. A member shall be eligible to apply to the Executive Committee for nomination as a Fellow if he/she fulfils the following requirements:-

• He/She has been a Member of HKPAA for not less than 3 years,

• He/She is able to satisfy the Executive Committee that he/she is a fit and proper person to become a Fellow, both in respect of his own character and in respect of the position he holds;

Provided that the Executive Committee shall have the right to waive the requirement set out in (a) above as the Executive Committee may in its absolute discretion thinks fit.

 

Members

Any person who satisfies the Executive Committee that he is a fit and proper person to become a Member may apply to the Executive Committee to join as a Member. In determining whether a person is fit and proper, the opinion of the Executive Committee shall be final and conclusive.

​

PART III: ORGANIZATION, FUNCTIONS AND POWERS

7. The supreme authority of the Association shall be vested in the Annual General Meeting and the Extraordinary General Meeting, during the recess of which the Executive Committee shall be the executive organ.

8. The general membership, at its Annual General Meeting, shall elect up to eighteen members of the new Executive Committee and the office bearers of the Association, including President, four Vice-Presidents, the Secretary and the Treasurer, as stipulated in PART V: ELECTION.

9. All the Executive Committee Members of the Association shall serve on an honorary basis. Their term of office shall be two years and they may be re-elected. Executive Committee Members shall not become salaried staff of the Association nor shall they receive from it any remuneration.

10. If the office of President is vacated in the course of the year after he was elected in accordance with Article 8, one of the Vice-Presidents shall be elected by the Executive Committee to succeed. The Vice-Presidency shall be taken over by one of the other Executive Committee Members elected from among themselves.

11. If necessary, the Association may take on employees, whose employment, discharge, and salaries shall be decided by the Executive Committee.

12. Members of the Executive Committee will take over at the Annual General Meeting at which they are elected.

13. The functions and powers of the General Meeting -

a. to pass amendments to the Constitution the Association;

b. to elect or dismiss Executive Committee Members;

c. to consider and adopt the progress and financial report of the Association;

d. to decide on any innovation which the Association may require;

e. to appoint auditors and legal advisers if necessary;

f. to dissolve the Association;

g. in the event of dissolution of the Association, to donate the remaining assets of the Association to a charity organization; and

h. to approve loans.

​

14. The functions and powers of the Executive Committee -

a. to implement the resolutions passed by the General and Extraordinary General Meetings;

b. to prepare the budget;

c. to attend to the daily affairs of the Association;

d. to decide on the employment, discharge, and salaries of employees;

e. to make recommendations to the General Meeting;

f. to establish Sub-Committees;

g. to approve applications for membership;

h. to prescribe membership fees;

i. to enter into transactions on behalf of the Association;

j. to undertake all other activities that will further the objectives and purposes of Association; and

k. to appoint the Patron of the Association.
​

15. The functions and powers of the respective Executive Committee Members are as follows:

a. The President shall represent the Association, direct other members of the Executive Committee in their work, take overall charge of the work of the Association, examine the accounts, and preside over meetings.

b.  The Vice-Presidents shall assist the President and shall act in the President's absence.

c. The Secretary shall attend to the secretarial work, keep the seals and documents under safe custody, compile the agenda and arrange for minutes of meetings to be recorded.

d. The Treasurer shall take charge of the financial matters of the Association, including compilation of the annual statement of accounts which, after examination by the President, shall be posted up in the Association premises for general information. This annual statement of accounts shall be submitted to the President for examination 15 days before the General Meeting to which it shall be presented for adoption. Funds of the Association in excess of HK$1,000 shall be deposited with a bank designated by the Executive Committee. Apart from the recurrent expenditure, monthly extraordinary expenses totalling less than HK$1,000 may be authorised by the President, but if the sum exceeds HK$1,000, approval from the Executive Committee shall be obtained before the money may be used.

e. Other Executive Committee Members shall attend to all the work which does not fall within the duties of the officers

f. The funds of the Association shall be applied as follows:

1. to settle the Association's daily expenses; and

2. to promote the Association's objectives.

3. The accounts shall be audited [by an auditor (or auditors) appointed pursuant to Article 13(e)] annually and the report presented to the Annual General Meeting for acceptance.

g. All members will be liable for the debts of the Association.

​​

 

PART IV: MEETINGS

16. The Annual General Meeting shall be held within the calendar year of each year and it shall be convened by the President. Members of the Association shall be notified of the meeting at least four weeks in advance. At least 20% of the members shall form a quorum.

17. In the event that a quorum is not present, the President will adjourn the meeting for one month. All members will be notified of the new meeting. No quorum is required for the new meeting.

18. If necessary, an Extraordinary General Meeting may be held upon the request of over half of all the Executive Committee Members or ten members of the Association who shall raise such a request in written form, bearing their signatures, to the President. Upon receipt, the President shall cause the meeting to be held within 15 days. However, discussions held and resolutions passed at the meeting shall be confined to only those points listed in the request.

19. The Executive Committee shall hold meetings as and when required. For every meeting of the Executive Committee, members of the Executive Committee shall be notified of the meeting at least seven days in advance.

20. Motions at all meetings shall be carried by the simple majority of those present. The President shall have a casting vote.

21. If both the President and Vice-President are absent from a meeting, those Executive Committee Members present shall elect among themselves a temporary President to preside over the meeting.

 

PART V: ELECTION

21(a). At least four weeks before the Annual General Meeting, the Secretary shall prepare Nomination Forms for the election of Executive Committee members and the office bearers of the Association (including the President, four Vice-Presidents, the Secretary and the Treasurer). Every candidate for election of the aforesaid shall be nominated by two existing Executive Committee members, and such form must be signed by the members making the same and must be accompanied by the written consent signed by the person nominated of his/her willingness to serve if nominated. Every such nomination and confirmation of acceptance must reach the Secretary not later than one week before the Annual General Meeting.

21(b). If the number of candidates duly nominated and endorsed for election as Executive Committee members and/or the office bearers of the Association does not exceed the number of vacancies, such candidates shall be deemed to have been duly elected. If the number of candidates duly nominated and endorsed as aforesaid being greater than the number of vacancies, the Secretary shall prepare voting papers and such voting papers shall be handed to every Member attending the Annual General Meeting for election by secret ballots. Nominees with the highest numbers of votes shall be elected. If necessary, a second round of secret ballot shall be held for nominees having the same number of votes.

21(c). The Executive Committee shall have the power to co-opt members into the Executive Committee at any time. The terms of office of any co-opted members shall not exceed the remaining term of office of the Executive Committee.

​

PART VI: AWARDS AND PENALTIES

22. The Executive Committee may present letters of appreciation to those who have given meritorious service to the Association.

23. Members who commit one of the following breaches may, subject to the approval of the General Meeting, be warned or expelled from the Association by the Executive Commit -

1. violation of the local criminal law, having been convicted;

2. unauthorized use of the name of the Association in unlawful acts, thereby impairing its reputation.

24. Any member so warned or expelled who is a member of the Executive Committee shall automatically cease to be a member of the Executive Committee.

25. The Executive Committee shall manage the finances of the Association to maintain a positive cash flow. If they advocate a temporary change by way of a loan or scheme which will exceed the existing assets of the Association, they must seek the endorsement of members through an Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting.

​

PART VII: DISSOLUTION

26. The Association may be dissolved at an Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting. At least two-thirds of those present at the meeting with the necessary quorum will be required to support the dissolution motion.

27. In the event of dissolution, all the remaining assets of the Association will go to a registered charitable organization.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

N.B. Hong Kong Public Administration Association was registered under Societies Ordinance, Cap. 151, Laws of Hong Kong on 27 Sept 1990 under Ref. CP/SR/19/7888. Certificate of Registration is kept by the Honorary Secretary in accordance with Article 15(c) of the Constitution. Amendments to Articles 8, 9, 10 and 21(b) were approved by the Extraordinary General Meeting on 30 April 1992. Further amendment to Article 9, making the term of office two years, was approved by the Annual General Meeting on 22 May 1998. This paa-constitution1998.doc MS-Word97+Richwin97 version dated 991201 was converted by Mr Anthony Chua from the paa-con2.doc EnglishWord6+Richwin4.2 version dated 980805, both as requested and authorised by the HKPAA ExCo.

Note: Amendments to Articles 6A and 6B were approved by the Annual General Meeting on 15 June 2000.

Note: Amendments to Articles 6(a), 6(b), 8 and 16 were approved by the Annual General Meeting on 26 June 2019.

Note: Amendments to Articles 8, 21(a), 21(b) and 21(c) were approved by the Annual General Meeting on 24 June 2021.