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19. If this is true, it reflects a very serious situation and one which should exercise the most urgent attention by the Government of Hong Kong. It also poses the question as to whether or not tactics in the campaign against corruption have not basically failed, notwithstanding the vast expense devoted to ICAC and the exercise of what may best be described as draconian powers and inquisitorial methods.
20. It was also said to me that if, as appears probable, corruption in the Police (and in other Public Departments) is so widespread and of such long standing, there can be few if any senior officers of long service in the Police who can be considered free from the taint of corruption in the past or at least connivance in it.
21.
In recent years, much has been done to dilute the inbred hierarchy of the Police by the introduction of a number of officers, some at senior level, from other Overseas Forces and this in itself will help to dispel the suspicion of professional involvement with an unsavoury past.
22. The dilemma, as I see it, is how to clean out the "Augean stable" without making excessive inroads into the operational cohesion of the Force and avoid undermining morale and at the same time ensure that suspicion is only levelled at those who merit it.
23. I suggest that so far as HMG and the British Parliament are concerned, it is only where an expatriate public servant is guilty of corruption that it becomes a matter of public concern in the United Kingdom.
24.
When I suggested this to Mr Prendergast, the Director of Operations ICAC in 1975, he contended that corruption amongst Chinese public servants and the police was inextricably woven into the expatriate element of the service and that the latter could not be investigated and dealt with in isolation.
25.
This may be so in syndicated corruption but I would sincerely suggest that serious consideration be given to emulating the Singapore anti-corruption organisation which, with a modest and highly qualified staff of 35-40 officers, only concerns itself with organised corruption at senior levels, leaving corruption in the Folice and in the public and private sectors at lower levels to the Folice for investigation.
26. As stated above, the methods and procedures are far too inquisitorial and appear to absolve, under the existing Anti- Corruption laws, the ICAC from the need to observe normal legal procedures and to investigate in depth and assemble sufficient evidence before placing any suspect at risk. The result has been considerable inroads into personal freedom and the creation of an almost neurotic sense of apprehension in the community.
27. I appreciate that much of what I have said may be considered frankly critical and, as such, unpalatable to the Government of Hong Kong, committed as it is to the campaign against corruption through ICAC. However, I would suggest that the time has come for the GOHK to indulge in a degree of self-examination as to whether there should not be some contraction of the apparatus, more clearly defined priority targets, a greater degree of conformity in investi- gation procedures and the assembly of evidence according to normal
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