Public officials must stay vigilant against possible conflict of interest, ICAC's Director of Corruption Prevention urges
2003-12-3
Public officials must stay vigilant against possible conflict of interest in view of rising public expectations for officials to discharge their duties impartially, Mr Thomas Chan Chi-sun, the ICAC’s Director of Corruption Prevention, today (Wednesday) told a regional conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Addressing a workshop on " Conflict of Interests" at the Fourth Regional Conference of the Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia-Pacific, Mr Chan shared with the conference participants Hong Kong’s experience on managing conflicts of interest in the public sector.
He remarked that the public does expect the official’s private interest not to compromise the way he discharges his public duty, and conflict of interest often involves public "perception".
"It is not a matter of whether you think you have done the right thing. What matters is whether the public thinks you have done the right thing," Mr Chan noted.
He advised that a public official could apply the so-called "sunshine test", that is whether one is prepared to discuss the case openly, to determine whether a conflict of interest has arisen.
To guard against conflict of interest, Mr Chan said a robust system of declaration of interest by public officials should be in place. It should include declaration of financial interests like investment in land and property, and share holding in companie s.
The system should also entail declaration of interest as and when it arises, and proper documentation of the declarations for protecting the officer as well as facilitating public monitoring.
Mr Chan also recommended the "tools" to be used within the civil service, including formulating a code of conduct setting out the management's expectation of ethical staff behaviour, clear guidelines on what constitute a conflict of interest and procedure s governing the declarations.
Apart from providing training and education to ensure the officers understand the issues and follow the procedures, an ethics or compliance officer could be designated while effective disciplinary actions on non-compliance should be taken.
Mr Chan said in Hong Kong, conflicts of interest in its blatant and serious form may amount to misconduct in public office offences even if it cannot be proved that a bribe has been accepted. So far, the ICAC has prosecuted 16 cases of misconduct in publi c office, of which nine are convicted and three still ongoing.
Investigation aside, the Commission also assists the government to raise ethical awareness in the civil service and to review the practices and procedures of departments for reducing corruption risks, he added.
"An important strategy in the corruption prevention programme is to promote transparent and accountable practices, and build in safeguards to minimise the possibility of the decision-making process being compromised by self-interest," said Mr Chan.
Mr Chan noted that some recent world development had made the need for public officers to properly handle conflict of interest increasingly important.
"Business models have changed –'96 the public private partnership approach is now commonly used in implementing public projects," he said.
"The public sector and private sector are now much more interactive and this makes it all the more important that public policies and decisions are made impartially and in the public interest, and perceived to be so."
Mr Chan attends the three-day Regional Conference held between December 3-5 as a member of a Hong Kong government delegation led by Director of Administration Andrew Wong Ho-yuen.
ICAC Commissioner Raymond Wong Hung-chiu, also a member of the delegation, has earlier participated in the round-table discussion during the Steering Group meeting of the Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Asia-Pacific on December 1 and 2.
The Director of Administration has reported at the Steering Group meeting on Hong Kong's anti-corruption initiatives and the measures designed to implement the Action Plan.
The Action Plan is a joint programme launched by the Asian Development Bank and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to support governments in the region in formulating and implementing anti-corruption strategies.
Hong Kong has endorsed the Action Plan earlier this year, marking its participation in a regional anti-corruption programme for the first time.
Meanwhile, a webpage on Hong Kong's participation in the Action Plan ( http://www.icac.org.hk/icac/adb_oecd/index.html ) has been launched today at the ICAC corporate website, with the progress report submitted to the Action Plan Secretariat attached for public access.
Addressing a workshop on " Conflict of Interests" at the Fourth Regional Conference of the Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia-Pacific, Mr Chan shared with the conference participants Hong Kong’s experience on managing conflicts of interest in the public sector.
He remarked that the public does expect the official’s private interest not to compromise the way he discharges his public duty, and conflict of interest often involves public "perception".
"It is not a matter of whether you think you have done the right thing. What matters is whether the public thinks you have done the right thing," Mr Chan noted.
He advised that a public official could apply the so-called "sunshine test", that is whether one is prepared to discuss the case openly, to determine whether a conflict of interest has arisen.
To guard against conflict of interest, Mr Chan said a robust system of declaration of interest by public officials should be in place. It should include declaration of financial interests like investment in land and property, and share holding in companie s.
The system should also entail declaration of interest as and when it arises, and proper documentation of the declarations for protecting the officer as well as facilitating public monitoring.
Mr Chan also recommended the "tools" to be used within the civil service, including formulating a code of conduct setting out the management's expectation of ethical staff behaviour, clear guidelines on what constitute a conflict of interest and procedure s governing the declarations.
Apart from providing training and education to ensure the officers understand the issues and follow the procedures, an ethics or compliance officer could be designated while effective disciplinary actions on non-compliance should be taken.
Mr Chan said in Hong Kong, conflicts of interest in its blatant and serious form may amount to misconduct in public office offences even if it cannot be proved that a bribe has been accepted. So far, the ICAC has prosecuted 16 cases of misconduct in publi c office, of which nine are convicted and three still ongoing.
Investigation aside, the Commission also assists the government to raise ethical awareness in the civil service and to review the practices and procedures of departments for reducing corruption risks, he added.
"An important strategy in the corruption prevention programme is to promote transparent and accountable practices, and build in safeguards to minimise the possibility of the decision-making process being compromised by self-interest," said Mr Chan.
Mr Chan noted that some recent world development had made the need for public officers to properly handle conflict of interest increasingly important.
"Business models have changed –'96 the public private partnership approach is now commonly used in implementing public projects," he said.
"The public sector and private sector are now much more interactive and this makes it all the more important that public policies and decisions are made impartially and in the public interest, and perceived to be so."
Mr Chan attends the three-day Regional Conference held between December 3-5 as a member of a Hong Kong government delegation led by Director of Administration Andrew Wong Ho-yuen.
ICAC Commissioner Raymond Wong Hung-chiu, also a member of the delegation, has earlier participated in the round-table discussion during the Steering Group meeting of the Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Asia-Pacific on December 1 and 2.
The Director of Administration has reported at the Steering Group meeting on Hong Kong's anti-corruption initiatives and the measures designed to implement the Action Plan.
The Action Plan is a joint programme launched by the Asian Development Bank and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to support governments in the region in formulating and implementing anti-corruption strategies.
Hong Kong has endorsed the Action Plan earlier this year, marking its participation in a regional anti-corruption programme for the first time.
Meanwhile, a webpage on Hong Kong's participation in the Action Plan ( http://www.icac.org.hk/icac/adb_oecd/index.html ) has been launched today at the ICAC corporate website, with the progress report submitted to the Action Plan Secretariat attached for public access.