ICAC continues to earn staunch public support while receiving less corruption complaints
2014-12-17
The ICAC continued to earn staunch public support in the past year which marked the Commission’s 40 th anniversary while receiving less graft complaints during the year, said Advisory Committee on Corruption Chairman Mr Chow Chung-kong.
Speaking at a press conference today (Wednesday), Mr Chow said the latest ICAC annual survey completed in September revealed that a large majority of the respondents, about 97%, considered the ICAC deserving their support.
In the first 11 months of 2014, the ICAC received 2,190 corruption complaints, representing a drop of 11% compared to 2,452 over the same period of 2013, with pursuable complaints down by the same percentage to 1,429 from 1,606.
Of these corruption complaints, 1,386 concerned the private sector, representing a drop of 9% compared with the same period last year; while 647 were against government departments, a drop of 14%. Corruption complaints against public bodies registered a drop of 13% to 157 complaints.
Mr Chow said despite the drop in graft complaints received, corruption situation in Hong Kong was well under control. The number of prosecutions remained stable, with the case-based conviction rate (excluding election-related cases) stood at 86%.
Citing the 2014 ICAC Annual Survey results, Mr Chow added that only very few respondents, 1.5%, indicated that they had encountered corruption in the past 12 months. The vast majority or 97.8% had not experienced corruption.
Mr Chow stressed that Hong Kong remained a clean society, with a clean civil service and a level playing field for doing business.
Concurring with Mr Chow’s view on the importance of public support in graft-fighting, Chairman of Operations Review Committee (ORC) Mr Michael Sze Cho-cheung encouraged members of the public to report to the ICAC when they genuinely suspect corruption.
The fact that a former senior government official and top business executives of a listed company were brought to court for trial during the year demonstrated that the ICAC had lived up to its name and discharged its anti-corruption duties without fear or favour, said Mr Sze.
Mr Sze also noted that while the overall corruption situation remained stable, the increasing complexity of cases especially those involving public listed companies remained a concern.
In addition, complaints concerning building management continued to take up over one-third of all private sector reports, followed by complaints in construction, catering as well as finance and insurance sectors.
In the public sector, misconduct in public office remained a major concern, whereby protection of illegal activities including gambling and vice, consorting with undesirable elements, disclosing confidential information and tipping off impending enforceme nt action were amongst the allegations received by the ICAC.
In concluding his tenure as ORC Chairman, Mr Sze observed that the ICAC, while recognising the need to adapt to ever-changing social, economic and political landscape, had never compromised its independence.
Joining Mr Chow and Mr Sze at the press briefing to review the work of the ICAC were chairmen of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC) and Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR).
On the preventive side, CPAC Chairman Mr Albert Au Siu-cheung said the committee fully supported the proactive efforts and diversified means adopted by the Corruption Prevention Department (CPD) in enhancing governance and internal controls of both public and private organisations, as well as providing timely advice on issues of public conern.
Mr Au noted that during the year, CPD had updated the Building Maintenance Toolkit for building owners and developed a training package for the construction industry, as both areas had attracted most corruption complaints in the private sector.
To promote a culture of clean governance in the public sector, the CPD had issued sample codes of conduct for government departments and public bodies, and the efforts would be extended to non-government organisations in 2015.
Mr Au added that as a number of public elections would be held in the coming three years, the CPD would study previous election-related complaints and work with relevant bureau and governing bodies to review electoral legislations and procedures with a vi ew to upholding fairness and integrity of local elections.
On the educational front, CACCR Chairman Professor John Leong Chi-yan noted that the Community Relations Department (CRD) had ridden on the Commission’s 40th Anniversary to fully integrate “face-to-face” contact and media publicity in promoting anti-corruption messages.
Such publicity projects included public screening sessions of past ICAC television dramas at the Hong Kong International Film Festival held in 2014, as well as a district entrenchment programme jointly hosted by CRD and 18 District Councils.
Looking ahead, Professor Leong noted that in view of upcoming public elections, a three-year “Support Clean Elections” educational programme would be launched in 2015. Taking heed of the public’s concern about vote-rigging, the ICAC would step up partnership with relevant government departments in law enforcement, prevention and education.
Meanwhile, elaborating on findings of the 2014 ICAC Annual Survey, Professor Leong said the public remained intolerant to corruption. On a scale of 0-10, with 0 representing total rejection and 10 representing total acceptance of corruption, the poll reg istered a mean score of 1.0.
A majority of the respondents or 80.6% considered ICAC’s anti-corruption work effective. Those indicating reluctance to report corruption slightly increased from 4.9% in 2013 to 6.7% this year.
Professor Leong said the Commission would step up its efforts to encourage the public to report corruption and address their concerns behind their reluctance. Such concerns included “no time to report”, “worried about their own safety/safety of their families”, “the case had nothing to do with them” and “worried about trouble”. Suitable messages, such as ICAC’s pledge to keep all reports confidential and reporting procedures, would be highlighted in various publicity initiatives.
Premiering the new ICAC Announcement of Public Interest at the press conference, Professor Leong said the latest advertising campaign, titled “Dreams” , would continue to appeal to the public not to tolerate corruption and continue their efforts to ensure a clean future for the next generation.
Speaking at a press conference today (Wednesday), Mr Chow said the latest ICAC annual survey completed in September revealed that a large majority of the respondents, about 97%, considered the ICAC deserving their support.
In the first 11 months of 2014, the ICAC received 2,190 corruption complaints, representing a drop of 11% compared to 2,452 over the same period of 2013, with pursuable complaints down by the same percentage to 1,429 from 1,606.
Of these corruption complaints, 1,386 concerned the private sector, representing a drop of 9% compared with the same period last year; while 647 were against government departments, a drop of 14%. Corruption complaints against public bodies registered a drop of 13% to 157 complaints.
Mr Chow said despite the drop in graft complaints received, corruption situation in Hong Kong was well under control. The number of prosecutions remained stable, with the case-based conviction rate (excluding election-related cases) stood at 86%.
Citing the 2014 ICAC Annual Survey results, Mr Chow added that only very few respondents, 1.5%, indicated that they had encountered corruption in the past 12 months. The vast majority or 97.8% had not experienced corruption.
Mr Chow stressed that Hong Kong remained a clean society, with a clean civil service and a level playing field for doing business.
Concurring with Mr Chow’s view on the importance of public support in graft-fighting, Chairman of Operations Review Committee (ORC) Mr Michael Sze Cho-cheung encouraged members of the public to report to the ICAC when they genuinely suspect corruption.
The fact that a former senior government official and top business executives of a listed company were brought to court for trial during the year demonstrated that the ICAC had lived up to its name and discharged its anti-corruption duties without fear or favour, said Mr Sze.
Mr Sze also noted that while the overall corruption situation remained stable, the increasing complexity of cases especially those involving public listed companies remained a concern.
In addition, complaints concerning building management continued to take up over one-third of all private sector reports, followed by complaints in construction, catering as well as finance and insurance sectors.
In the public sector, misconduct in public office remained a major concern, whereby protection of illegal activities including gambling and vice, consorting with undesirable elements, disclosing confidential information and tipping off impending enforceme nt action were amongst the allegations received by the ICAC.
In concluding his tenure as ORC Chairman, Mr Sze observed that the ICAC, while recognising the need to adapt to ever-changing social, economic and political landscape, had never compromised its independence.
Joining Mr Chow and Mr Sze at the press briefing to review the work of the ICAC were chairmen of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC) and Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR).
On the preventive side, CPAC Chairman Mr Albert Au Siu-cheung said the committee fully supported the proactive efforts and diversified means adopted by the Corruption Prevention Department (CPD) in enhancing governance and internal controls of both public and private organisations, as well as providing timely advice on issues of public conern.
Mr Au noted that during the year, CPD had updated the Building Maintenance Toolkit for building owners and developed a training package for the construction industry, as both areas had attracted most corruption complaints in the private sector.
To promote a culture of clean governance in the public sector, the CPD had issued sample codes of conduct for government departments and public bodies, and the efforts would be extended to non-government organisations in 2015.
Mr Au added that as a number of public elections would be held in the coming three years, the CPD would study previous election-related complaints and work with relevant bureau and governing bodies to review electoral legislations and procedures with a vi ew to upholding fairness and integrity of local elections.
On the educational front, CACCR Chairman Professor John Leong Chi-yan noted that the Community Relations Department (CRD) had ridden on the Commission’s 40th Anniversary to fully integrate “face-to-face” contact and media publicity in promoting anti-corruption messages.
Such publicity projects included public screening sessions of past ICAC television dramas at the Hong Kong International Film Festival held in 2014, as well as a district entrenchment programme jointly hosted by CRD and 18 District Councils.
Looking ahead, Professor Leong noted that in view of upcoming public elections, a three-year “Support Clean Elections” educational programme would be launched in 2015. Taking heed of the public’s concern about vote-rigging, the ICAC would step up partnership with relevant government departments in law enforcement, prevention and education.
Meanwhile, elaborating on findings of the 2014 ICAC Annual Survey, Professor Leong said the public remained intolerant to corruption. On a scale of 0-10, with 0 representing total rejection and 10 representing total acceptance of corruption, the poll reg istered a mean score of 1.0.
A majority of the respondents or 80.6% considered ICAC’s anti-corruption work effective. Those indicating reluctance to report corruption slightly increased from 4.9% in 2013 to 6.7% this year.
Professor Leong said the Commission would step up its efforts to encourage the public to report corruption and address their concerns behind their reluctance. Such concerns included “no time to report”, “worried about their own safety/safety of their families”, “the case had nothing to do with them” and “worried about trouble”. Suitable messages, such as ICAC’s pledge to keep all reports confidential and reporting procedures, would be highlighted in various publicity initiatives.
Premiering the new ICAC Announcement of Public Interest at the press conference, Professor Leong said the latest advertising campaign, titled “Dreams” , would continue to appeal to the public not to tolerate corruption and continue their efforts to ensure a clean future for the next generation.