ICAC remains committed to anti-graft duties with staunch public support
2020-1-14
The ICAC had remained steadfast and committed to combatting corruption vigorously and impartially, and safeguarding the probity culture of Hong Kong amidst unprecedented challenges to the city brought by social unrests.
Speaking today (January 14) at the annual press conference to review the work of ICAC’s advisory committees, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Corruption Mr Martin Liao Cheung-kong remarked that the Commission continued to enjoy staunch and extensive public support.
In 2019, the ICAC received 2,297 non-election related corruption complaints, dropping 14% from that of 2018. Among all complaints received, 64% concerned the private sector, 28% related to government departments while 7% involved public bodies.
Meanwhile, up to the end of 2019, the Commission received 518 election-related complaints in respect of the 2019 District Council Election, of which 492 were pursuable.
Mr Liao said the ICAC also did a remarkable job in facilitating international cooperation in graft-fighting. In May 2019, the 7th ICAC Symposium, jointly organised by ICAC and the World Justice Project, provided a platform for over 500 participants from more than 50 jurisdictions to share ideas and experience in the fight against corruption.
In addition, the ICAC continued to collaborate with overseas law enforcement agencies on capacity training. So far, the ICAC had explored training opportunities with over 50 countries which were signatories to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, while nine tailor-made training programmes were conducted in 2019 for eight signatories along the Belt and Road route.
Mr Liao added that the ICAC joined a tripartite meeting with the heads of the Guangdong Provincial Commission of Supervision and the Commission Against Corruption of Macao in May last year. The three parties agreed in principle to join hands to strengthen efforts in combating cross-boundary corruption, promoting integrity culture and organising capacity building programmes for graft-fighters.
“We will keep performing our advisory and monitoring role to ensure the ICAC will continue to do its utmost to keep Hong Kong fair and just, regardless of future challenges and adversities,” Mr Liao said.
Joining Mr Liao at the press conference today were Mr Benjamin Tang Kwok-bun, Chairman of the Operations Review Committee (ORC); Professor Timothy Tong Wai-cheung, Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR); and Mr Adrian Wong Koon-man, Chairman of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC).
ORC Chairman Mr Tang said despite enormous challenges and difficulties, the Operations Department continued to perform its graft-fighting duties independently and impartially, with perseverance and professionalism in 2019.
Mr Tang noted that the significant decrease in complaints concerning the private sector could be seen as a welcome sign. In 2019, the complaints went down by 17% from 1,776 to 1,480. In particular, complaints concerning building management had registered a 25% drop from 674 to 505.
He noted that the Operations Department would continue to adopt a two-pronged strategy, combining the traditional approach of investigation for prosecution with preventive measures by taking timely intervention action in appropriate cases.
In addition, the ORC was pleased to note that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in August last year between the ICAC and the Securities and Futures Commission to strengthen cooperation in the fight against corruption and market malpractice. The enhanced liaison work and cooperation had brought about tangible results in joint investigations, said Mr Tang.
For public sector corruption, complaints concerning government departments registered a drop of 8% from 706 to 647 in 2019, while complaints relating to public bodies decreased by 7% from 183 to 170. Mr Tang opined that the civil service remained clean, and the vast majority of civil servants were able to measure up to the very high standards of integrity and probity expected of them.
Meanwhile, at the press briefing today, CACCR Chairman Professor Tong released major findings of the 2019 ICAC Annual Survey.
The findings showed that the public remained highly intolerant of corruption. Using a 0 to 10 rating scale, of which 0 represented total rejection and 10 total tolerance of corruption, the mean score in the 2019 survey was 0.3, the lowest since 2010. Also, 81.7% of the respondents said they were willing to report corruption, the highest percentage registered since 2010.
Apart from their strong willingness to report corruption, almost all respondents (98.7%) considered that keeping Hong Kong corruption-free was important to the overall development of Hong Kong, reflecting that integrity remained the core value of the community.
The survey also found that 96.3% of the respondents considered the ICAC deserving their support, which demonstrated the public’s recognition of ICAC’s anti-corruption work. In addition, 94.5% indicated that they had received ICAC messages through various media platforms in the past 12 months, showing the effectiveness of ICAC’s multi-media publicity work.
The ICAC Annual Survey was conducted by an independent polling agency between April and July 2019. Through face-to-face household interviews of over 1,500 randomly selected citizens, the survey helped gauge public perceptions and attitudes towards corruption, as well as their views on ICAC’s anti-graft work.
Looking ahead, Professor Tong noted that the Community Relations Department would continue to entrench the core value of integrity in different sectors, including a two-year Ethics Promotion Campaign for the insurance industry, as well as a multi-facet programme to publicise the “Support Clean Elections” message in the run-up of the Legislative Council Election.
On the preventive front, CPAC Chairman Mr Wong said in 2019, the CPAC endorsed 70 assignment reports completed by the Corruption Prevention Department (CPD). The department also provided corruption prevention advice for government departments and other organisations on over 1,340 occasions.
Mr Wong said the CPAC strongly supported the CPD’s strategy to review the work processes in a bid to strengthen corruption prevention measures in the quality control of major construction materials in public works projects.
For the finance sector, Mr Wong said the CPAC was pleased to see that the CPD, in collaboration with the regulators and professional bodies concerned, provided training and resources to assist local listed companies in establishing and reviewing their anti-bribery management systems and enhancing the disclosure of anti-corruption information.
In the coming months, Mr Wong said the CPD would develop a corruption prevention guide for agencies which carry out law enforcement and regulatory functions in environmental hygiene and building safety aspects to enhance their awareness of common pitfalls and the necessary corruption prevention controls.
The department would also develop a corruption prevention guide for insurance companies to assist them in establishing and strengthening their corruption prevention capabilities in their core operations.
Speaking today (January 14) at the annual press conference to review the work of ICAC’s advisory committees, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Corruption Mr Martin Liao Cheung-kong remarked that the Commission continued to enjoy staunch and extensive public support.
In 2019, the ICAC received 2,297 non-election related corruption complaints, dropping 14% from that of 2018. Among all complaints received, 64% concerned the private sector, 28% related to government departments while 7% involved public bodies.
Meanwhile, up to the end of 2019, the Commission received 518 election-related complaints in respect of the 2019 District Council Election, of which 492 were pursuable.
Mr Liao said the ICAC also did a remarkable job in facilitating international cooperation in graft-fighting. In May 2019, the 7th ICAC Symposium, jointly organised by ICAC and the World Justice Project, provided a platform for over 500 participants from more than 50 jurisdictions to share ideas and experience in the fight against corruption.
In addition, the ICAC continued to collaborate with overseas law enforcement agencies on capacity training. So far, the ICAC had explored training opportunities with over 50 countries which were signatories to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, while nine tailor-made training programmes were conducted in 2019 for eight signatories along the Belt and Road route.
Mr Liao added that the ICAC joined a tripartite meeting with the heads of the Guangdong Provincial Commission of Supervision and the Commission Against Corruption of Macao in May last year. The three parties agreed in principle to join hands to strengthen efforts in combating cross-boundary corruption, promoting integrity culture and organising capacity building programmes for graft-fighters.
“We will keep performing our advisory and monitoring role to ensure the ICAC will continue to do its utmost to keep Hong Kong fair and just, regardless of future challenges and adversities,” Mr Liao said.
Joining Mr Liao at the press conference today were Mr Benjamin Tang Kwok-bun, Chairman of the Operations Review Committee (ORC); Professor Timothy Tong Wai-cheung, Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR); and Mr Adrian Wong Koon-man, Chairman of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC).
ORC Chairman Mr Tang said despite enormous challenges and difficulties, the Operations Department continued to perform its graft-fighting duties independently and impartially, with perseverance and professionalism in 2019.
Mr Tang noted that the significant decrease in complaints concerning the private sector could be seen as a welcome sign. In 2019, the complaints went down by 17% from 1,776 to 1,480. In particular, complaints concerning building management had registered a 25% drop from 674 to 505.
He noted that the Operations Department would continue to adopt a two-pronged strategy, combining the traditional approach of investigation for prosecution with preventive measures by taking timely intervention action in appropriate cases.
In addition, the ORC was pleased to note that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in August last year between the ICAC and the Securities and Futures Commission to strengthen cooperation in the fight against corruption and market malpractice. The enhanced liaison work and cooperation had brought about tangible results in joint investigations, said Mr Tang.
For public sector corruption, complaints concerning government departments registered a drop of 8% from 706 to 647 in 2019, while complaints relating to public bodies decreased by 7% from 183 to 170. Mr Tang opined that the civil service remained clean, and the vast majority of civil servants were able to measure up to the very high standards of integrity and probity expected of them.
Meanwhile, at the press briefing today, CACCR Chairman Professor Tong released major findings of the 2019 ICAC Annual Survey.
The findings showed that the public remained highly intolerant of corruption. Using a 0 to 10 rating scale, of which 0 represented total rejection and 10 total tolerance of corruption, the mean score in the 2019 survey was 0.3, the lowest since 2010. Also, 81.7% of the respondents said they were willing to report corruption, the highest percentage registered since 2010.
Apart from their strong willingness to report corruption, almost all respondents (98.7%) considered that keeping Hong Kong corruption-free was important to the overall development of Hong Kong, reflecting that integrity remained the core value of the community.
The survey also found that 96.3% of the respondents considered the ICAC deserving their support, which demonstrated the public’s recognition of ICAC’s anti-corruption work. In addition, 94.5% indicated that they had received ICAC messages through various media platforms in the past 12 months, showing the effectiveness of ICAC’s multi-media publicity work.
The ICAC Annual Survey was conducted by an independent polling agency between April and July 2019. Through face-to-face household interviews of over 1,500 randomly selected citizens, the survey helped gauge public perceptions and attitudes towards corruption, as well as their views on ICAC’s anti-graft work.
Looking ahead, Professor Tong noted that the Community Relations Department would continue to entrench the core value of integrity in different sectors, including a two-year Ethics Promotion Campaign for the insurance industry, as well as a multi-facet programme to publicise the “Support Clean Elections” message in the run-up of the Legislative Council Election.
On the preventive front, CPAC Chairman Mr Wong said in 2019, the CPAC endorsed 70 assignment reports completed by the Corruption Prevention Department (CPD). The department also provided corruption prevention advice for government departments and other organisations on over 1,340 occasions.
Mr Wong said the CPAC strongly supported the CPD’s strategy to review the work processes in a bid to strengthen corruption prevention measures in the quality control of major construction materials in public works projects.
For the finance sector, Mr Wong said the CPAC was pleased to see that the CPD, in collaboration with the regulators and professional bodies concerned, provided training and resources to assist local listed companies in establishing and reviewing their anti-bribery management systems and enhancing the disclosure of anti-corruption information.
In the coming months, Mr Wong said the CPD would develop a corruption prevention guide for agencies which carry out law enforcement and regulatory functions in environmental hygiene and building safety aspects to enhance their awareness of common pitfalls and the necessary corruption prevention controls.
The department would also develop a corruption prevention guide for insurance companies to assist them in establishing and strengthening their corruption prevention capabilities in their core operations.