XN000022-1997-01-29 — Page 31

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Reply:

(d)

Mr President,

of the respective numbers of members of the British Forces and the disciplined services who were disciplined by the authorities concerned, or convicted in a local court, for the above acts?

As regards part (a) of the question, the British garrison and the disciplined services have not received any formal complaints about non-payment of taxi fares by their members in the past three years. The British garrison are however aware of two recent disputes over the fares charged involving their members. The incidents were settled with the assistance of the Police and the Royal Military Police without a formal complaint arising from either party.

As regards part (b) of the question, the British garrison have not received any formal complaints about non-payment of other fees and charges by their members in the past three years. As regards the disciplined services, there are three complaints received by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) against police officers (2 in 1994, 1 in 1995) concerning the non-payment of meal expenses in the past three years. The Customs and Excise Department have also received one complaint against its member for using cross border bus services without payment during the period. The claim was not substantiated.

As regards part (c) of the question, if members of the public have a complaint on such acts by a member of the British garrison or the disciplined services, they should report it to the Police. The Police will deal with them in the same way as all other criminal cases in a fair and thorough manner. If there is an element of corruption, the cases will be investigated by the ICAC.

As regards part (d) of the question, one police officer was charged but not convicted. However, disciplinary action was taken by the Police against four officers involved in the cases mentioned in part (b) of the answer.

End