to further their private purposes and that they do not place themselves in embarrassing positions or in any way bring the Government or the service into disrepute. There are restrictions in CSRs on the taking up of employment or business activity without permission out of office hours, And there are provision requiring officers to report the possession of investments if these would conflict with their public duties. There are also the special restrictions on civil servants which are contained in the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and the Acceptance of Advantages Regulations.
5.
The main problem before us this morning is whether these rules are effective in controlling corruption, or in helping the ICAC to control it, in the Civil service.
6.
The regulations concerning conflict of interest seem to be basically satisfactory, to be understood by most civil servants and to work well, We keep these regulations under review and we are in the process of formulating new CSRS with the help of the ICAC whose aim is to spell out a code of conduct with special reference to avoidance of conflict of interest in financial and other matters.
7.
Despite their rather odd wording and the use of double negatives, the Acceptance of Advantages Regulations also seem to work reasonably well in practice and to be well understood by the service. Hereagain, we have minor amendments under consideration with the ICAC which will help us to achieve the objects of these regulations.
8.
In other ways, we are constantly seeking for ways to tighten up control. An example of this is the proposal put forward by the ICAC that we should require civil servants to declare their gambling winnings. This has proved to be an area of particular difficulty for the ICAC and it is now receiving policy consideration.
9.
The main question mark hangs over whether the principles which are enshrined in the Disciplinary Code and the procedures which are employed to enforce the rules are in fact so protective of the individual that they are more of
/a
Page 180Page 181
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.