ENG-1992 — Page 317

PUBLIC ORDER

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Executive and Legislative Councils, the Attorney General and the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints. In addition, the Operations Department has an internal investigation group which monitors and investigates corruption and the criminal behaviour of any ICAC officer.

The Way Ahead

The ICAC will be reaching its 20th year of operation in 1994. While corruption is no longer a way of life as it was when the Commission was established in 1974, the community must continue to remain vigilant. Given continued public support, the ICAC is confident that the problem will be kept under control in the run-up to 1997 and beyond.

Government Laboratory

The Forensic Science Division of the Government Laboratory provides a comprehensive scientific forensic service to law enforcement departments in Hong Kong. During the year, it was actively engaged in the scientific investigation of such diverse crimes as armed robbery, homicide, arson, fatal traffic accidents, commercial fraud, manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs and possession of controlled pharmaceutical preparations. In line with its commitment for the provision of expert evidence in courts of law, the service not only encompasses a wide range of analytical tasks but also, where necessary, supplements the analytical results with informed scientific opinion on their significance. The scientific evidence can be instrumental, not only in helping law enforcement agencies and the Crown Prosecutor decide whether or not to prosecute but also in assisting the court in criminal trials at all levels. In this way, the division forms an important link between law and order and judiciary services.

The nine specialist sections of the Division are organised into two groups. The Presumptive Evidence Group concentrates on cases involving opinion evidence, whilst the Definitive (Statutory) Evidence Group concentrates on the activities of the sections concerned with drug analysis. In addition, the division provides a 24-hour scene-of-crime service to law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong. During the year 551 crime scenes were attended with scientific evidence collected at the scenes of crime for subsequent examination.

After three years of painstaking development, with over 600 samples profiled to establish a database for the local ethnic community, DNA profiling is now at a stage where limited casework can be undertaken for investigations where body fluid analysis is vital for the police investigation, in particular serious crime against the person, such as serial rape cases and homicide. As a new service, funding for the DNA Section has been restricted by the government austerity drive but it was still possible for more than 1 000 case-related profiles to be performed and that demands for DNA profiling will increase. Increases in both document items received and case numbers were experienced in the Questioned Documents Section and the trend is in line with Hong Kong becoming one of the world's major financial centres. The escalating trend in the number of cases involving vehicle engine or chassis number restorations has reflected the growing menance of vehicle theft in the city.

The Definitive (Statutory) Evidence Group deals with drug analysis and forensic toxicology which are method intensive. During the year, over 5 800 biological samples, 50 000 urine samples for drug monitoring, 50 000 opiate drug samples and 28 000 non- opiate drug samples were examined. Overall the group has encountered increasing numbers