Concerted efforts in graft fight demonstrate ICAC’s determination to uphold rule of law
2017-12-20
The concerted efforts of the three departments of the ICAC in combatting corruption on all fronts demonstrated locally and internationally the Commission’s undaunted determination to uphold the rule of law, said Mr Chow Chung-kong, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Corruption (ACOC).
Speaking at a press conference today (December 20), Mr Chow noted that in the first 11 months of 2017, the ICAC received 2,648 corruption complaints, a slight drop of 2% compared to the same period in 2016. Of the corruption complaints, 67% concerned the private sector, 27% related to government departments and 6% involved public bodies. Pursuable graft complaints increased by 7% to 1,993 and the percentage of non-anonymous complaints also recorded a slight increase from 73% to 74%.
Noting that two-thirds of the corruption complaints concerned the private sector, the ACOC Chairman said the ICAC had allocated extra resources to the corruption prevention and education work for the private sector.
Mr Chow said the ICAC’s work were widely recognised by members of the public. According to the 2017 ICAC Annual Survey, 96.8% of respondents considered the anti-graft agency deserving their support.
The ACOC Chairman also noted that the international community thought highly of Hong Kong’s anti-corruption work. A number of notable surveys persistently rated Hong Kong as one of the cleanest cities in the world.
“To further promote international cooperation in the anti-graft cause, the ICAC has set up a dedicated unit to assist other States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, including most of the Belt and Road countries, in system and capacity building to fight corruption,” he said.
With more comprehensive staff succession arrangements, departmental staff wastage rate (excluding the normal retirement figure) as at the end of November dropped to 2.1%, which was lower than the annual average of 3.1% over the past five years.
Joining Mr Chow at the press conference were Miss Maria Tam Wai-chu, Chairman of the Operations Review Committee (ORC); Mr Albert Au Siu-cheung, Chairman of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC); and Professor Timothy Tong Wai-cheung, Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR).
Satisfied that the ICAC had carried out robust law enforcement actions impartially and independently, ORC Chairman Miss Tam said despite a 7% decrease (from 189 to 176) in the number of persons prosecuted (excluding those in election-related cases), person-based and case-based conviction rates increased to 80% and 82% respectively.
Miss Tam said notwithstanding isolated prosecutions involving government officials, the civil service remained clean. The ICAC would continue to heighten the awareness of public officials to the pitfalls of corruption or situations involving conflicts of interest, and investigate all complaints in strict accordance with the law.
In the private sector, the building management subsector accounted for 41% of the total number of complaints. In order to maximise the effectiveness of enforcement actions, Miss Tam said where appropriate, intervention at an early stage would be made to frustrate possible corrupt and bid-rigging activities in addition to conventional approach of investigation.
As at the end of November, the ICAC received a total of 498 election-related complaints in connection with the last elections cycle. These were swiftly and effectively dealt with through the proper allocation of resources, said Miss Tam.
Meanwhile, CACCR Chairman Professor Tong told the press conference that the Community Relations Department (CRD) continued to adopt an “Ethics for All” approach, making good use of multi-media platforms in publicity in order to strengthen education efforts in different sectors of the community.
Under a multi-year “All for Integrity” territory-wide programme, the CRD partnered with some 300 organisations from different strata of the community to strengthen Hong Kong’s probity culture through major activities, including the ICAC Open Day, publicity booths in the Hong Kong Book Fair and district projects with the 18 District Councils comprising bus parades and other activities.
In addition, a three-year “Ethics Promotion Programme for Listed Companies” in collaboration with 18 institutional stakeholders was implemented, culminating in a business ethics conference attended by over 500 directors, senior management and professionals of organisations, including over 180 listed companies, in September. A comprehensive training package comprising hypothetical cases and training videos on ethical challenges faced by stakeholders was also launched.
On the preventive front, CPAC Chairman Mr Au endorsed the Corruption Prevention Department’s (CPD) proactive and cross-public-private work approach in maintaining strong safeguards in the public sector and strengthening corruption prevention capacity in the private sector.
Through contractual arrangements with public organisations, subvented private organisations were required to abide by probity provisions as well as guidelines in relation to open procurement, and to put in place effective internal controls, Mr Au said.
Meanwhile, the CPD had set up Corruption Prevention Groups with about 120 government departments and public bodies to review their corruption prevention initiatives and strengthen their corporate governance and internal controls.
Looking ahead, the CPD would assist the Urban Renewal Authority in putting in place corruption prevention measures in implementing Operation Building Bright 2.0 in mid-2018. Timely corruption prevention advice would also be provided for mega infrastructure and development projects such as the Three-Runway System developed by the Airport Authority, Mr Au added.
Speaking at a press conference today (December 20), Mr Chow noted that in the first 11 months of 2017, the ICAC received 2,648 corruption complaints, a slight drop of 2% compared to the same period in 2016. Of the corruption complaints, 67% concerned the private sector, 27% related to government departments and 6% involved public bodies. Pursuable graft complaints increased by 7% to 1,993 and the percentage of non-anonymous complaints also recorded a slight increase from 73% to 74%.
Noting that two-thirds of the corruption complaints concerned the private sector, the ACOC Chairman said the ICAC had allocated extra resources to the corruption prevention and education work for the private sector.
Mr Chow said the ICAC’s work were widely recognised by members of the public. According to the 2017 ICAC Annual Survey, 96.8% of respondents considered the anti-graft agency deserving their support.
The ACOC Chairman also noted that the international community thought highly of Hong Kong’s anti-corruption work. A number of notable surveys persistently rated Hong Kong as one of the cleanest cities in the world.
“To further promote international cooperation in the anti-graft cause, the ICAC has set up a dedicated unit to assist other States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, including most of the Belt and Road countries, in system and capacity building to fight corruption,” he said.
With more comprehensive staff succession arrangements, departmental staff wastage rate (excluding the normal retirement figure) as at the end of November dropped to 2.1%, which was lower than the annual average of 3.1% over the past five years.
Joining Mr Chow at the press conference were Miss Maria Tam Wai-chu, Chairman of the Operations Review Committee (ORC); Mr Albert Au Siu-cheung, Chairman of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC); and Professor Timothy Tong Wai-cheung, Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR).
Satisfied that the ICAC had carried out robust law enforcement actions impartially and independently, ORC Chairman Miss Tam said despite a 7% decrease (from 189 to 176) in the number of persons prosecuted (excluding those in election-related cases), person-based and case-based conviction rates increased to 80% and 82% respectively.
Miss Tam said notwithstanding isolated prosecutions involving government officials, the civil service remained clean. The ICAC would continue to heighten the awareness of public officials to the pitfalls of corruption or situations involving conflicts of interest, and investigate all complaints in strict accordance with the law.
In the private sector, the building management subsector accounted for 41% of the total number of complaints. In order to maximise the effectiveness of enforcement actions, Miss Tam said where appropriate, intervention at an early stage would be made to frustrate possible corrupt and bid-rigging activities in addition to conventional approach of investigation.
As at the end of November, the ICAC received a total of 498 election-related complaints in connection with the last elections cycle. These were swiftly and effectively dealt with through the proper allocation of resources, said Miss Tam.
Meanwhile, CACCR Chairman Professor Tong told the press conference that the Community Relations Department (CRD) continued to adopt an “Ethics for All” approach, making good use of multi-media platforms in publicity in order to strengthen education efforts in different sectors of the community.
Under a multi-year “All for Integrity” territory-wide programme, the CRD partnered with some 300 organisations from different strata of the community to strengthen Hong Kong’s probity culture through major activities, including the ICAC Open Day, publicity booths in the Hong Kong Book Fair and district projects with the 18 District Councils comprising bus parades and other activities.
In addition, a three-year “Ethics Promotion Programme for Listed Companies” in collaboration with 18 institutional stakeholders was implemented, culminating in a business ethics conference attended by over 500 directors, senior management and professionals of organisations, including over 180 listed companies, in September. A comprehensive training package comprising hypothetical cases and training videos on ethical challenges faced by stakeholders was also launched.
On the preventive front, CPAC Chairman Mr Au endorsed the Corruption Prevention Department’s (CPD) proactive and cross-public-private work approach in maintaining strong safeguards in the public sector and strengthening corruption prevention capacity in the private sector.
Through contractual arrangements with public organisations, subvented private organisations were required to abide by probity provisions as well as guidelines in relation to open procurement, and to put in place effective internal controls, Mr Au said.
Meanwhile, the CPD had set up Corruption Prevention Groups with about 120 government departments and public bodies to review their corruption prevention initiatives and strengthen their corporate governance and internal controls.
Looking ahead, the CPD would assist the Urban Renewal Authority in putting in place corruption prevention measures in implementing Operation Building Bright 2.0 in mid-2018. Timely corruption prevention advice would also be provided for mega infrastructure and development projects such as the Three-Runway System developed by the Airport Authority, Mr Au added.