ENG-1996 — Page 379

PUBLIC ORDER

In April, ICAC officers attended the 17th Asian Organised Crime Conference in Los Angeles. ICAC delegates will attend the 8th International Anti-Corruption Conference, to be held in Peru in 1997.

In November, the ICAC hosted the 4th Regional Seminar on Corruption-Related Crime with representatives from law enforcement agencies in Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the USA, as well as local agencies. The seminar focused on the potential to promote further areas of co-operation in corruption investigation. During the year, the ICAC received 248 visitors from law enforcement agencies and other organisations in various countries.

In the course of investigation, Operations Department officers visited jurisdictions other than China on 44 occasions, and the commission assisted officers from overseas law enforcement agencies in their enquiries in Hong Kong on 12 occasions. Since 1988, following the establishment of a Hong Kong/PRC mutual assistance scheme, the Operations Department sent officers into China on 82 occasions, and assisted investigating officers from China in enquiries in Hong Kong on 86 occasions.

Checks and Balances

To minimise the possibility of any abuse of power, the ICAC has always been subject to a stringent system of checks and balances. An independent review committee appointed by the Governor in 1994 made several recommendations which have been accepted by the administration and adopted by the ICAC. In effect, the changes subject the ICAC to closer judicial supervision and give the various advisory committees a greater role in monitoring and supervising its work. All advisory committees are now chaired by non-officials.

At the policy level, the ICAC is guided by the Advisory Committee on Corruption, which comprises prominent citizens, with the Director of Administration, the Commissioner of the ICAC and its Head of Operations sitting as ex officio members. The committee meets quarterly to review the ICAC's overall policy and draws to the Governor's attention any matter relating to its organisation or operation.

Once begun, an investigation can be concluded only by a decision to prosecute made independently by the Attorney General, or on the advice of the Operations Review Committee (ORC), which has to be satisfied that the enquiry has been exhaustively pursued and merits no further investigative action. Membership of the ORC includes the Commissioner of the ICAC, the Commissioner of Police, the Attorney General, the Director of Administration, and some private citizens. The ORC receives and considers reports on current major investigations, all investigations over one year old and all bail cases of six months' duration or more. It may draw to the Governor's attention any aspect of the work of the Operations Department or any problem encountered by the Committee.

Two other committees, the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations and the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee, review and advise on the work of the Community Relations Department and Corruption Prevention Department respectively.

Members of the public can lodge formal complaints against ICAC officers to the ICAC Complaints Committee. Its membership consists of members of the Executive and Legislative Councils, prominent citizens, the Attorney General and the

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