CORRUPTION IN HONG KONG
BACKGROUND NOTE
Redacted
under FOI exemption 27(1)
2. However, in 1974, in response to intense public concern following a much publicized corruption case against a senior British member of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, the Governor of Hong Kong established the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). This was charged with the task of investigating complaints of corrup- tion in the private and public sectors and preparing reports of its investigations for the Attorney-General, who then decided whether
prosecutions were justified. ICAC was also instructed to recommend ways of preventing corruption (for example, by changing Government procedures in order to eliminate opportunities for corruption) and to carry out an education programme aimed at making the Hong Kong public aware of the dangers of corruption. The Commission was given the task of altering the traditional public acceptance of the inevitability of corruption.
3. Contrary to popular belief, ICAC is not only concerned with
corruption in the Hong Kong Police. Nonetheless nearly half of the complaints which it has had to investigate have been against the Police. A feeling, therefore, developed among the police that they had been unfairly singled out for persecution. This feeling was exacerbated by the uncertainty created by the inevitable delays in bringing investigations to a conclusion. Certain of ICAC's procedures also created resentment for example, the custom of making arrests
early in the morning. This resentment came to a head in November 1977
when the police threatened to mutiny. By that time, however, the Commissioner in charge of ICAC, Mr Jack Cater, was able to assure the Governor that all major corruption syndicates had now been identified and action initiated against them.
ARA