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Press Statement by Secretary for the Civil Service
Following is a statement by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr W K Lam:
"The retirement of former Director of Immigration, Mr Laurence Leung is an employment matter between the Hong Kong Government and Mr Leung himself. I want to state that the UK Government was not involved in the matter in any way.
I have made it clear in my evidence to the LegCo Select Committee that when I meet an officer to discuss their personal career situation, what passes between us remains confidential and should not be disclosed to third parties without the officer's consent. Now that Mr Leung has revealed the substance of my meeting with him on 5 July, he has clearly waived the implied confidentiality of the meeting in question. I can confirm that I invited him to the meeting on 5 July. At the meeting, I told Mr Leung that I was considering making a representation to the Governor under Colonial Regulation 59 that his retirement would be desirable in the public interest. But he could if he chose to retire voluntarily with immediate effect.
Under CR 59, before a report is made to the Governor, an officer must be informed of the grounds on which his retirement is contemplated and be given the opportunity to make representations. If Mr Leung had chosen not to retire voluntarily, he would have been informed of the grounds on which CR 59 action was contemplated and would have been given the opportunity to make representations. The report and any representations made by Mr Leung would then have been submitted to the Governor for a decision whether, having regard to all the circumstances the officer should be required to retire.
It was Mr Leung's choice to retire rather than to face Colonial Regulation 59 action.
Mr Leung volunteered to reveal today that he was the subject of an ICAC investigation and you will have seen a statement from the ICAC confirming that this was the case. I must explain again that in the absence of that disclosure by Mr Leung and confirmation by ICAC, I could not properly confirm or deny whether Mr Leung had been the subject of an investigation. I can further confirm that a copy of the ICAC's report was forwarded to the Administration to consider whether any disciplinary or administrative action against Mr Leung was necessary.
I will now have to consider the transcript of Mr Leung's evidence very carefully, in particular, his points about further disclosure of information. When we have done so, we will then consider whether we have anything more to say."
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