The nomination period for the Legislative Council elections for geographical constituencies, functional constituencies and the Election Committee in May will run from April 9 to 24.

As for the subsector elections on April 2 to form the 800-member Election Committee, prospective candidates may submit nomination forms from March 13 to 20. Designated bodies of the Religious subsector responsible for proposing nominees must return their nomination forms within the same period.

Details are set out in five notices to be gazetted tomorrow (Friday).

Nomination forms will be available from the relevant Returning Officer or Assistant Returning Officers of the respective constituency/subsector and the Registration and Electoral Office, 10th floor, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai shortly before the commencement of the nomination period.

Completed forms must be handed in to the relevant Returning Officer or Assistant Returning Officers by a nominee in person, and in the case of geographical constituencies, by one of the nominees on a list, during ordinary business hours in the nomination period.

Speaking at a press conference, the chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing, said that free legal advice would be made available to prospective candidates from next Monday (February 16) if they had doubts about their eligibility for nomination.

"The Commission has appointed two senior counsels, Mr Lawrence Lok Ying-kam and Mr Wong Ching-yue, and two barristers, Mr Ho Bing-kwan and Mr Ronald H B Tang, each as a Nominations Advisory Committee from February 16 to April 28 to provide this service," he said.

The appointment, made under the Electoral Affairs Commission (Nominations Advisory Committees) Regulation, will be gazetted tomorrow.

"The service will also be offered to designated bodies of the Religious subsector," he said.

Prospective nominees for the subsector elections and designated bodies of the Religious subsector may apply for advice from February 16 to March 12.

People intending to contest the general election on May 24 may apply for legal advice from February 16 to April 8.

Applications should be made in a specified form and lodged with the Chief Electoral Officer on the 27th floor, Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, in person, by post or by facsimile (2802 8767 or 2802 4580). Forms are available from the same place or on the 10th floor, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road. Enquiries may be made on telephone 2582 6050.

In addition, the Nominations Advisory Committees will give advice to Returning Officers to ensure consistency in their decisions on the validity of nominations. They can seek advice from the start of nomination up to one day after nomination closes.

Mr Justice Woo said that the appointment of 25 Returning Officers and 51 Assistant Returning Officers for the May elections would also be gazetted tomorrow.

Twenty Returning Officers and 20 Assistant Returning Officers have been appointed for the Election Committee subsector elections.

A Deputy Director of Home Affairs has been designated as the Chief Returning Officer for both the April and May elections, he added.