or illegal d inves-
ice anti-
in 1973 ber, to
to over
revious out of caused
ere had
hen ap- investi-
blem of case for police, e public hbers of
o set up
the ex- e of his ntenced ollowed
overnor ad been vants of
o extort
by their C inves- sfaction
hat was
resenta-
licemen
y some e ICAC
stration the law ed with for all cted the hat date nts had
en con- ven the oned an assed an officer appeal.
Miners, the Government and Politics of HK, 4th ed.
THE PUBLIC SERVICE
103
39
This dramatic action quelled the incipient mutiny within the police force.
These events naturally affected the morale of the ICAC, and the num- her of allegations of corruption sent in by members of the public for investigation dropped dramatically. However, confidence in the Com- mission was gradually rebuilt and in 1979 the number of reports received from the public had returned to the level reached in mid-1977 before the police mutiny. The Operations Department of the ICAC continues to investigate corruption complaints and initiate prosecutions. In 1981, 509 cases were brought to court, the highest annual total so far; in the next three years the figures were 403, 466, and 410. The Corruption Preven- tion Department has extended its studies of supervisory accountability in government departments and other public bodies and is increasingly occupied with monitoring how far its previous reports have been carried into effect. The Community Relations Department is actively engaged in educating the public on the evils of corruption through the press and by lectures, books, posters, and television films. It now has 11 sub- offices in the main centres of population which are open from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., including public holidays, to receive complaints from the public and to keep in contact with the community.
STATUTORY CORPORATIONS AND OTHER PUBLIC BODIES Not all government business is administered by civil servants working in the conventional departments of government or in the Secretariat. There are also a number of organizations which carry out government policy but are not part of the official governmental structure. All, some, or none of their staff may be civil servants; all, some, or none of their finances may come from government; and government control over
of presence gov- their activities may be exercised either directly by the ernment officials or appointees, or indirectly through financial pres- sure, or by the threat of possible sanctions. These public and semi- public bodies appear under a bewildering variety of forms, so that it is not possible to specify all the differences in detail. Some are statutory corporations set up by ordinance of the Legislative Council; others are public companies in which government has taken an interest; others again are private institutions whose activities are subsidized in whole or in part by government. The reasons why such bodies have been set up or subvented differ in each case. In general it seems that government has decided that its objects can be achieved more effectively or cheap- ly by an organization not under direct day-to-day government control and not bound by the strait-jacket of Civil Service Regulations. Such organizations can in consequence operate in a more flexible manner and some are expected to act like commercial firms in promoting their services. This is particularly the case where government has organized certain business services where the private sector has been unable or unwilling to do so.
The organization which comes closest to being like a normal govern-
pw
dis Barrett's
minute in 7/5 to ms maja
HKC 241/5
13
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