Graft remains at low level as a result of ICAC holistic strategy and growing public trust
2016-7-6
Despite a rise of 18 per cent in corruption complaints last year, there was no sign of deterioration in the corruption scene of Hong Kong and the city remained one of the cleanest in the world, according to the 2015 ICAC Annual Report.
Tabling the report at the Legislative Council today (Wednesday), Advisory Committee on Corruption member and legislator Mr Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen said the ICAC received a total of 2,798 corruption complaints (excluding election-related complaints) in 2015. Of which, 65 per cent concerned the private sector, 28 per cent related to government departments and seven per cent involved public bodies.
Mr Leung said the 18-per cent rise in corruption complaints compared to 2014 could be attributed to the ICAC’s holistic strategy, in particular its intensified publicity campaigns to encourage the public to report corruption in the past year, as well as an increase of public trust in the anti-graft agency.
He noted that notwithstanding the many challenges brought by the ever changing social and economic environment as well as increasingly complex modus operandi of criminals, Hong Kong’s graft situation remained at an extremely low level.
According to the 2015 ICAC Annual Survey conducted by an independent research institute, only 1.3 per cent of respondents had come across corruption in the past 12 months, 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous year.
In the Commissioner’s Review of the annual report, ICAC Commissioner Mr Simon Peh Yun-lu noted that in 2015, a total of 213 persons in 99 cases were convicted of various non-election related offences, representing an increase of about 24 per cent in terms of number of persons and a rise of two per cent in terms of number of cases.
Noting that the Operations Department had displayed a high level of professionalism in the investigation and prosecution of a former Chief Executive and a former Chief Secretary, Mr Peh said those two isolated cases demonstrated the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s robust anti-corruption regime and its determination to combat corruption in the past 41 years.
As tender rigging activities remained a public concern in 2015, the ICAC had set up a special task force to investigate several complaints, resulting in the prosecution of a former proprietor of an engineering company for conspiring with others to offer about $45 million in bribes to secure consultancy and renovation contracts of two private residential estates through tender rigging.
On the preventive front, the Corruption Prevention Department completed 69 assignment studies for government departments, public bodies, non-governmental organisations and other organisations in 2015. Areas of studies included law enforcement, public and private procurement, outsourcing of services, public works projects, funding schemes and regulatory systems such as licensing.
During the year, timely advice was provided on 627 occasions to government departments and public bodies during the formulation of new legislations, policies and procedures to ensure that corruption prevention safeguards were built in as early as possible.
Corruption prevention advice was also given to private organisations on 644 occasions and all requests for advice were responded to within two working days in accordance with the ICAC’s performance pledge. A training package was produced for the retail industry.
On the education front, the Community Relations Department (CRD) had kicked off a three-year “Support Clean Elections” education and publicity programme as a new election cycle began in 2015.
The CRD spared no efforts in explaining anti-corruption laws to different strata of the society and instilling among members of the public a notion that corruption was totally unacceptable. In addition, a long-term partnership with the business sector was fostered in promoting business ethics.
Mr Peh said in the face of globalisation, partnerships at both regional and international levels were crucial in formulating effective graft-fighting strategies. As such, the ICAC hosted the 6th ICAC Symposium and the 3rd Annual Meeting of Economic Crime Agencies Network in 2015, reaffirming the ICAC’s status as one of the global leaders in anti-corruption work.
As corrupt practices were becoming more secretive and modus operandi of the corrupt more sophisticated, Mr Peh said the ICAC would continue to refine its anti-graft strategy and join hands with Hong Kong people to create a clean future for the community and their next generations.
Tabling the report at the Legislative Council today (Wednesday), Advisory Committee on Corruption member and legislator Mr Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen said the ICAC received a total of 2,798 corruption complaints (excluding election-related complaints) in 2015. Of which, 65 per cent concerned the private sector, 28 per cent related to government departments and seven per cent involved public bodies.
Mr Leung said the 18-per cent rise in corruption complaints compared to 2014 could be attributed to the ICAC’s holistic strategy, in particular its intensified publicity campaigns to encourage the public to report corruption in the past year, as well as an increase of public trust in the anti-graft agency.
He noted that notwithstanding the many challenges brought by the ever changing social and economic environment as well as increasingly complex modus operandi of criminals, Hong Kong’s graft situation remained at an extremely low level.
According to the 2015 ICAC Annual Survey conducted by an independent research institute, only 1.3 per cent of respondents had come across corruption in the past 12 months, 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous year.
In the Commissioner’s Review of the annual report, ICAC Commissioner Mr Simon Peh Yun-lu noted that in 2015, a total of 213 persons in 99 cases were convicted of various non-election related offences, representing an increase of about 24 per cent in terms of number of persons and a rise of two per cent in terms of number of cases.
Noting that the Operations Department had displayed a high level of professionalism in the investigation and prosecution of a former Chief Executive and a former Chief Secretary, Mr Peh said those two isolated cases demonstrated the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s robust anti-corruption regime and its determination to combat corruption in the past 41 years.
As tender rigging activities remained a public concern in 2015, the ICAC had set up a special task force to investigate several complaints, resulting in the prosecution of a former proprietor of an engineering company for conspiring with others to offer about $45 million in bribes to secure consultancy and renovation contracts of two private residential estates through tender rigging.
On the preventive front, the Corruption Prevention Department completed 69 assignment studies for government departments, public bodies, non-governmental organisations and other organisations in 2015. Areas of studies included law enforcement, public and private procurement, outsourcing of services, public works projects, funding schemes and regulatory systems such as licensing.
During the year, timely advice was provided on 627 occasions to government departments and public bodies during the formulation of new legislations, policies and procedures to ensure that corruption prevention safeguards were built in as early as possible.
Corruption prevention advice was also given to private organisations on 644 occasions and all requests for advice were responded to within two working days in accordance with the ICAC’s performance pledge. A training package was produced for the retail industry.
On the education front, the Community Relations Department (CRD) had kicked off a three-year “Support Clean Elections” education and publicity programme as a new election cycle began in 2015.
The CRD spared no efforts in explaining anti-corruption laws to different strata of the society and instilling among members of the public a notion that corruption was totally unacceptable. In addition, a long-term partnership with the business sector was fostered in promoting business ethics.
Mr Peh said in the face of globalisation, partnerships at both regional and international levels were crucial in formulating effective graft-fighting strategies. As such, the ICAC hosted the 6th ICAC Symposium and the 3rd Annual Meeting of Economic Crime Agencies Network in 2015, reaffirming the ICAC’s status as one of the global leaders in anti-corruption work.
As corrupt practices were becoming more secretive and modus operandi of the corrupt more sophisticated, Mr Peh said the ICAC would continue to refine its anti-graft strategy and join hands with Hong Kong people to create a clean future for the community and their next generations.