Graft situation of HK remains stable, according to ICAC advisory committee chairs
2012-12-13
The overall corruption situation of Hong Kong remained stable with no sign of revival of syndicated corruption in government departments, despite a slight increase in corruption complaints received by the ICAC, said Advisory Committee on Corruption (ACOC) Chairman Mrs Laura Cha.
Speaking at a press conference today (Thursday), Mrs Cha noted that in the first 11 months of 2012, the ICAC received 3,731 corruption complaints, representing a rise of 2% over the same period of 2011.
Of those corruption complaints, 2,357 concerned the private sector, representing a drop of 4% compared with the previous year; while 1,134 were against government departments, an increase of 13%, with pursuable complaints up by 8%. Corruption complaints against public bodies stood at 240, up 12%.
Mrs Cha said the rise in the number of corruption complaints against government departments might be due to ICAC investigations, prosecutions and media coverage of such cases during the year, while some people might lodge complaints with the ICAC because they felt aggrieved over certain government operations.
She also stressed that those isolated cases involving senior officials might affect people’s perceptions and Hong Kong’s ranking in international surveys in the short-term. However, such cases also testified that corruption was not tolerated while the ICAC was determined and effective in fighting corruption.
Mrs Cha said the ACOC was supportive of the ICAC’s requests for additional resources to cope with the increasing workload.
To recruit high-calibre officers to join the Commission, the ICAC had launched a recruitment exercise recently, attracting about 12,000 applications, which demonstrated the community’s high regard to the anti-graft work, she said.
Operations Review Committee Chairman Mr Michael Sze Cho-cheung said as at the end of November 2012, the ICAC’s caseload stood at 2,134.
Echoing Mrs Cha’s view that the graft situation remained under control, Mr Sze said the ICAC continued to be highly vigilant in investigating all corruption complaints involving government officials. Key areas of concern were abuse of authority, financial insolvency, fa ilure in taking action against illicit activities and solicitation of unauthorised loans.
In the first 11 months of 2012, corruption complaints concerning the private sector decreased by 4%. Sectors attracting most complaints were building management, construction, and finance and insurance.
A total of 187 persons were prosecuted by the ICAC (excluding cases involving election offences), and the case-based conviction rate stood at 85%.
As at the end of November 2012, the ICAC received 178 and 23 complaints concerning the 2012 Legislative Council Election and the Chief Executive Election respectively.
The number of complaints concerning the 2011 District Council (DC) Election stood at 2,281. Of those complaints, 1,614 alleged vote-rigging, with 1,604 pursuable.
Mr Sze said a special taskforce set up by the Operations Department concluded investigations into those vote-rigging complaints, which had not revealed evidence to support a rampant vote-rigging phenomenon.
By the end of November 2012, 45 persons had been prosecuted for vote-rigging offences relating to the 2011 DC Election, resulting in 38 convictions.
Joining Mrs Cha and Mr Sze at the annual press briefing to review the ICAC’s work were chairmen of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC) and Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR).
On the prevention side, CPAC Chairmen Mr Albert Au Siu-cheung noted that the ICAC continued to focus on areas of public concern.
During the year, the ICAC had carried out a thorough review of the roadworthiness examination operation of car testing centres and the Transport Department’s monitoring mechanism over the centres in the wake of a related investigation widely reported by the media last year.
With the launch of various major infrastructural projects amounting to $62.3 billion and the rapid development of the private property market, Mr Au said the ICAC had proactively undertaken a series of corruption prevention work in the construction indust ry to reduce corruption risk.
Mr Au said a set of best practices was also produced to enhance governance and internal controls of national sports associations, which received over $230 million in subvention from the government in 2011/12.
On the educational front, CACCR Chairman Professor John Leong Chi-yan said the ICAC had developed a new moral education resource package to tie in with the new curriculum for junior secondary school students.
To entrench a probity culture in the civil service, Professor Leong said a project was launched to raise the alertness of civil servants to conflict of interest situations.
Meanwhile, the ICAC collaborated with the Mainland and Macao authorities to produce a legal guide aimed to provide small and medium enterprises with the latest information on corruption prevention.
Professor Leong said a new advertising campaign themed “ Uphold the Core Value of Hong Kong. Stand Firm Against Corruption ” was just launched to highlight the ICAC’s steadfast “zero tolerance” against corruption as a clean society was crucial to the overall development of Hong Kong.
Speaking at a press conference today (Thursday), Mrs Cha noted that in the first 11 months of 2012, the ICAC received 3,731 corruption complaints, representing a rise of 2% over the same period of 2011.
Of those corruption complaints, 2,357 concerned the private sector, representing a drop of 4% compared with the previous year; while 1,134 were against government departments, an increase of 13%, with pursuable complaints up by 8%. Corruption complaints against public bodies stood at 240, up 12%.
Mrs Cha said the rise in the number of corruption complaints against government departments might be due to ICAC investigations, prosecutions and media coverage of such cases during the year, while some people might lodge complaints with the ICAC because they felt aggrieved over certain government operations.
She also stressed that those isolated cases involving senior officials might affect people’s perceptions and Hong Kong’s ranking in international surveys in the short-term. However, such cases also testified that corruption was not tolerated while the ICAC was determined and effective in fighting corruption.
Mrs Cha said the ACOC was supportive of the ICAC’s requests for additional resources to cope with the increasing workload.
To recruit high-calibre officers to join the Commission, the ICAC had launched a recruitment exercise recently, attracting about 12,000 applications, which demonstrated the community’s high regard to the anti-graft work, she said.
Operations Review Committee Chairman Mr Michael Sze Cho-cheung said as at the end of November 2012, the ICAC’s caseload stood at 2,134.
Echoing Mrs Cha’s view that the graft situation remained under control, Mr Sze said the ICAC continued to be highly vigilant in investigating all corruption complaints involving government officials. Key areas of concern were abuse of authority, financial insolvency, fa ilure in taking action against illicit activities and solicitation of unauthorised loans.
In the first 11 months of 2012, corruption complaints concerning the private sector decreased by 4%. Sectors attracting most complaints were building management, construction, and finance and insurance.
A total of 187 persons were prosecuted by the ICAC (excluding cases involving election offences), and the case-based conviction rate stood at 85%.
As at the end of November 2012, the ICAC received 178 and 23 complaints concerning the 2012 Legislative Council Election and the Chief Executive Election respectively.
The number of complaints concerning the 2011 District Council (DC) Election stood at 2,281. Of those complaints, 1,614 alleged vote-rigging, with 1,604 pursuable.
Mr Sze said a special taskforce set up by the Operations Department concluded investigations into those vote-rigging complaints, which had not revealed evidence to support a rampant vote-rigging phenomenon.
By the end of November 2012, 45 persons had been prosecuted for vote-rigging offences relating to the 2011 DC Election, resulting in 38 convictions.
Joining Mrs Cha and Mr Sze at the annual press briefing to review the ICAC’s work were chairmen of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC) and Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR).
On the prevention side, CPAC Chairmen Mr Albert Au Siu-cheung noted that the ICAC continued to focus on areas of public concern.
During the year, the ICAC had carried out a thorough review of the roadworthiness examination operation of car testing centres and the Transport Department’s monitoring mechanism over the centres in the wake of a related investigation widely reported by the media last year.
With the launch of various major infrastructural projects amounting to $62.3 billion and the rapid development of the private property market, Mr Au said the ICAC had proactively undertaken a series of corruption prevention work in the construction indust ry to reduce corruption risk.
Mr Au said a set of best practices was also produced to enhance governance and internal controls of national sports associations, which received over $230 million in subvention from the government in 2011/12.
On the educational front, CACCR Chairman Professor John Leong Chi-yan said the ICAC had developed a new moral education resource package to tie in with the new curriculum for junior secondary school students.
To entrench a probity culture in the civil service, Professor Leong said a project was launched to raise the alertness of civil servants to conflict of interest situations.
Meanwhile, the ICAC collaborated with the Mainland and Macao authorities to produce a legal guide aimed to provide small and medium enterprises with the latest information on corruption prevention.
Professor Leong said a new advertising campaign themed “ Uphold the Core Value of Hong Kong. Stand Firm Against Corruption ” was just launched to highlight the ICAC’s steadfast “zero tolerance” against corruption as a clean society was crucial to the overall development of Hong Kong.