XN000022-1996-03-13 — Page 32

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Reply:

Mr President.

(a)

(b)

(c)

All police officers, irrespective of their rank, have to abide by the requirements of conduct and discipline laid down in the Civil Service Regulations and police internal orders. For disciplinary matters relating to officers at Inspectorate ranks or below, they are dealt with under the Police (Discipline) Regulations made in accordance with S.45 of the Police Force Ordinance. The authority for dealing with these cases rests with the Commissioner of Police. For disciplinary matters relating to officers at the rank of Superintendent and above, they are dealt with under the Colonial Regulations in accordance with s.13 of the Police Force Ordinance. The authority for dealing with these cases rests with the Governor.

The underlying principles of both sets of Regulations are the same, i.e. fairness and justice. The procedures for both types of proceedings including hearing, punishment and appeal are similar so as to ensure that all cases are dealt with thoroughly and impartially. Obviously, senior officers are dealt with by a higher level of authority in view of the more important positions they hold. However, there is no question that they will be treated more leniently; they are expected to uphold the same level of integrity as any other Police officers.

As explained in Part (a) of my reply, all police officers irrespective of rank are bound by the same requirements of conduct and discipline. There are therefore no police officers who are not bound by the Force's internal code of discipline.

Statistics are only kept in respect of officers investigated for corruption or other crimes who were eventually prosecuted and/or disciplined. In the past three years, a total of 87 officers were disciplined following corruption allegations and 32 for other criminal allegations. A breakdown by number and rank is annexed to the written version of my reply.

In addition, 82 police officers were convicted of criminal offences (including corruption offences) during the past three years. Of these, 69 officers were dismissed from the Force, and 12 were reprimanded under s. 37(5) of the Police Force Ordinance, without involving formal disciplinary proceedings. One of the cases is under appeal. A breakdown by number and rank of these cases is also annexed to the written version of my reply.