CONFIDENTIAL
For discussion
on 18th November 1969
XCC(69)50
Copy No....of 27
MEMORANDUM FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
PREVENTION OF BRIBERY BILL 1969
A
B, C
Honourable Members will remember that, following the presentation of memorandum XCC(69)32, they advised and the Governor ordered that, with one amendment, the Prevention of Bribery Bill be published in the official Gazette for general information, prior to further consideration being given to the bill by Council in the light of public comment prior to its introduction into the Legislative Council.
2
Accordingly, the bill was published as a supplement to Gazette No 30 on Friday, 25th July 1969. Comments were invited from the three Staff Associations of the Hong Kong Public Service and from the Bar Association the Law Society and the Exchange Banks Association. In addition, opinions appeared in the press, reactions from the public became available through the City District Offices, and other comments were received from various interested parties, Generally speaking, the criticism of the bill was not as strong as had been expected and much of it was directed at the retention of the Anti-Corruption Branch as part of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. However, no substantial new arguments were advanced for a separate organisation, in addition to those dealt with in paragraphs 38 to 41 of the memorandum at Annex A and the attachment thereto. Accordingly, it is recommended that the Anti-Corruption Branch should continue for the time being to remain part of the Police.
3
Annex B and Annex C give respectively a survey of public opinion received through City District Offices and a summary of comments in the Chinese and European press. In addition, detailed comments from various interested parties have been collected in one file and all the comments which have been received on the bill, set out clause by clause, are contained in another. Copies of both files are available and Honourable Members who wish to see them are asked to contact the Deputy Clerk of Councils who will forward a copy of the files. The principal comments (other than those of a drafting nature) are summarised below and have, so far as they are considered valid, been included in the new draft bill at Annex D.
The Exchange Banks Association.
4
The Association expressed dislike of the intrusion into the privacy which normally surrounds the relations between banks and their customers (this reservation was also expressed by the Investors Overseas Service) and feared that the wide powers of investigation conferred by clauses 13 and 14 might adversely affect investment in Hong Kong.
CONFIDENTIAL