The changes for the Legislative Council election next year proposed by Anson Chan Fang On-sang could be carried out by local legislation, says a leading law professor at the University of Hong Kong.

Albert Chen Hung-yee, a member of the Basic Law Committee, said the changes did not contravene the National People's Congress Standing Committee's reinterpretation of the Basic Law. It had ruled out universal suffrage this year and next because the proposal did not represent any 'substantial change'.

He told RTHK that issues such as 'how to define functional constituencies, how many functional constituencies there are, how many voters can cast votes for them and who are eligible to vote can be stipulated through local legislation'.