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Independent body to investigate complaint against police
Following is a question by the Hon James To Kun-sun and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Peter Lai, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
A motion was carried by this Council on 21 April 1993 urging the Government to set up an independent body to receive and investigate complaints in relation to police officers. The Government has also put the proposed Independent Police Complaints Council Bill as a priority item in the Legislative Programmes for 1994-95 and 1995-96, but up to now the Government has still not introduced the Bill into this Council. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a)
(b)
(c)
why it has not yet introduced the Bill into this Council; whether it has to wait until the completion of the Comparative Study of overseas Police Complaints Systems and the review of the Complaints Against Police Office's procedures before introducing the Bill; if so, when it will complete these two studies and inform this Council of the outcome;
of the progress of the drafting of the Bill; whether it will introduce the Bill into this Council before the end of the current session; if not, when the Government will introduce the Bill; and
whether, in drafting the Bill, the Government will consider expanding the scope of the investigation which can be undertaken by the Independent Police Complaints Council?
Reply:
Mr President,
(a)
On 2 July, the Governor in Council approved the introduction into the Legislative Council of the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) Bill, which aims to give statutory status and to enhance the monitoring role of the IPCC. We have in drafting the Bill taken into account the findings of the comparative study of overseas police complaints systems and the outcome of the independent review of Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) procedures.