BACKGROUND NOTE
1.
For many years there have been allegations of corruption
In June this year,
in the Hong Kong police and public services.
whilst action against him under the Hong Kong Prevention of Bribery
Ordinance was at an advanced stage, Chief Superintendent Godber
of the Royal Hong Kong Police escaped from Hong Kong to the United
Kingdom. The incident caused wide-spread public indignation.
The
Governor appointed Sir Alastair Blair-Kerr, Senior Puisne Judge,
to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr Godber's departure;
and to make recommendations. In his report, Sir Alastair, amongst
2.
other things, pointed to the need for the establishment of an
Anti-Corruption Commission, separate from the police. The
Governor recently announced the establishment of this Commission.
The former Anti-Corruption Unit was part of the police force.
Mrs Elsie Elliott, a former Baptist missionary in China,
is an elected member of the Hong Kong Urban Council. She has a
reputation as a champion of the rights of working people, and has
for long been a critic of the Hong Kong Government and especially
the police. She has frequently made allegations of inefficiency
and corruption. In 1966 there was a judicial Commission of Inquiry,
headed by the then Chief Justice, into riots at the Star Ferry in
Hong Kong. Allegations were made by two youths that police officers
had forced them to make statements incriminating Mrs Elliott in the
riots. The Commission carefully considered these allegations, but
rejected them. The Chief Justice severely criticised Mrs Elliott
during the Inquiry for refusing to answer questions. She has had a
grievance on the subject ever since.