TNAG-0990-FCO40-1209-Allegations-of-bribery-and-corruption-in-Hong-Kong-1980 — Page 169

布政司署

CONFIDENTIAL

港下亞畢道

CSBCR L/M (4) in

HKK 380/2

* Our Ref.:

* YOUR REF.:

DP 66/2-C III

Dear Dick,

2.

R&R tome

Ji3.2

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51 14 FEB 1980

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

No

PA

चाह

W

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

5 February 1980

RC USTRY

sion Taken:

5

See 3

N Willianser

agam

Proposed Tribunal to deal with cases of

civil servants known to be corrupt

Welcome to your new desk!

- you said that you were awaiting

Rushford's

Ņ

considered reaction, haves passed his preksi icy new

ENClift

I think you know that one of our trickier problems in recent years has been how to dispense with the services of civil servants who are known to be corrupt but who cannot for various reasons be taken to court.

3.

The problem has become more pressing as the ICAC extends its enquiries into the "satisfied customer" field, where a civil servant provides some sort of service and is paid in return. Third parties are seldom involved and evidence which can be revealed in court is therefore difficult to obtain. Although one or other of the parties involved may be prepared to admit the offence and to give evidence against the other party, the courts would tend to look upon the person giving the evidence as an accomplice and be reluctant to convict unless there was corroboration of the testimony.

4.

In some cases there may be irrefutable material from sources which are so sensitive that even their existence cannot be revealed to the courts. An example is a current investigation in which a large proportion of our Driving Examiners are known from sensitive sources to have accepted money to pass driving test candidates, but it is unlikely that we shall be able to charge more than a few of them.

5.

Just as evidence of this type cannot be revealed in court, so, for the same reason, it cannot be revealed in an investigation held under CR 57. Moreover, retirement in the public interest under Colonial Regulation 59 is unlikely to be feasible either, because of the difficulty of framing adequate grounds without disclosing the nature of the source.

R.D. Clift, Esq.,

Hong Kong & General Department,

Foreign & Commonwealth Office,

London SW1 2AH,

England.

CONFIDENTIAL

/........ pg. 2