ENG-1994 — Page 377

PUBLIC ORDER

after 20 years of successful operation, seeing it as a positive step to enable the government to reaffirm its determination to overcome corruption. The review would ensure an appropriate balance between the powers needed to fight corruption and public accountability, and would allow the community to renew its mandate to the ICAC.

In December, the review committee published its report, recommending that the supervisory responsibility of the ICAC committees should be widened and that they should be chaired by non-official members, with the objective of improving the transparency and accountability of the commission.

The Way Ahead

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The ICAC is committed to fighting, in hand with the community, corruption through effective law enforcement, education and prevention to help keep Hong Kong fair, just, stable and prosperous.

Government Laboratory

The Forensic Science Division of the Government Laboratory serves as an important element for the maintenance of public order by providing comprehensive scientific services to law enforcement departments in Hong Kong. It therefore forms a vital link between law and order and the judiciary. In line with this, when possible, the Forensic Science Division also provides, on a fee-paying basis, analytical and consultancy services to the private sector, thereby generating extra revenue to the Treasury.

The division's nine specialist sections, organised into the Physical and Biochemical Evidence Group and the Drugs and Toxicology Group, are actively engaged in the scientific investigation of such diverse crimes as homicide, arson, armed robbery, commercial fraud, fatal traffic accidents, the manufacture and trafficking of dangerous drugs and unlawful possession of controlled pharmaceutical preparations. The primary objective of the division is to provide law enforcement departments with an efficient, speedy and cost-effective analytical service to help the Attorney General to decide whether or not to prosecute. In addition, by giving expert opinion in respect of scientific evidence, either in the form of a statement or personally in the witness box in court, professional officers assist the court or jury to determine whether or not a defendant is guilty. The division also provides a 24-hour scene-of-crime service by collecting scientific evidence, at scenes of crime, for further analysis in the laboratory.

Within the realm of the work of the Physical and Biochemical Evidence Group, DNA profiling is now much in demand, especially for solving sex crimes. During the year, there has been a 25 per cent increase in the number of profiles completed. Developments continue at a rapid rate in this field. Since there is a continuous need to test new procedures and techniques and to enlarge the local database, it will be a top priority to seek expansion of the DNA Profiling Section at the specialist level. In the area of 'white collar' crime, credit card frauds have hit major headlines in Hong Kong and abroad. The Questioned Documents Section has established professional contacts with the United States Secret Service for collaborative work on the classification of counterfeit credit cards, with the aim of generating intelligence on clandestine manufacturing operations worldwide.

The workload of the three operational sections of the Drugs and Toxicology Group increased by an unprecedented amount. In the past two years, the number of cases submitted

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