XN000022-1996-12-18 — Page 19

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COMAC (Amendment) Bill (committee stage)

Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary, Mrs Anson Chan, at the committee stage of Commissioner for Administrative Complaints (Amendment) Bill 1996 at the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr Chairman, the Administration strongly opposes the amendments moved by the Honourable James To to extend the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints (COMAC's) general jurisdiction to cover the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force.

Complaints against the police are already monitored and reviewed by the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC). On July 10, 1996, the Administration introduced into LegCo the IPCC Bill which proposes to make the IPCC a statutory body. This will provide the legal basis for the IPCC to discharge its functions of monitoring and reviewing the investigations by the Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) into complaints against police officers. It will increase the credibility of the IPCC and enhance public confidence in the existing police complaints system.

Members of this Council have started to examine this Bill. The first meeting of the Bills Committee was held on December 16. We consider that any proposal to improve the police complaints system should be examined in the context of the IPCC Bill. The COMAC (Amendment) Bill is not the appropriate forum.

Apart from introducing the IPCC Bill, the Administration has already implemented a number of measures to improve the police complaints system. These include:

in July 1994, enabling the IPCC to interview witnesses, including both the complainant and the complainee;

in September 1994, installing closed-circuit television, video or tape- recording facilities in the CAPO to ensure transparency during interviews;

in April 1996, introducing the IPCC Observer Scheme whereby IPCC members may participate in scheduled and surprise observations of CAPO investigations to enhance the credibility and transparency of the system.