ENG-2003 — Page 397

PUBLIC ORDER

insurance claims and money laundering. There were also corruption allegations involving civil servants and misconduct in public office.

The number of corruption reports remained at a high level. At year-end, the Operations Department's case-load stood at 1896 (including 435 investigations on election-related cases). A growing number of these cases featured a more sophisticated and complex modus operandi. During the year, 421 persons were prosecuted and 113 cautioned in accordance with the advice of the Department of Justice.

Prevention

The Corruption Prevention Department examines the practices and procedures of government departments and public bodies to identify corruption loopholes, and recommends measures to reduce opportunities for malpractice.

During the year, the department completed 101 detailed studies into corruption prone areas such as public procurement and outsourcing, law enforcement, contract administration, licensing and registration systems, public works and management of public funding schemes.

Priority of work was given to cases investigated by the Operations Department, corrupt practices commonly found in corruption complaints as well as corruption prone areas identified through established liaison with client departments.

The department continued to provide expeditious corruption prevention advice to government departments and public bodies in the formulation of new legislation, policies or procedures. During the year, the department undertook such consultation work on 294 occasions. Government departments were more ready to initiate corruption prevention studies and seek quick assistance from the department over their new work programmes and revised systems.

To promote good governance and management in the private sector, the Advisory Services Group of the department provided free, confidential and tailor-made corruption prevention advice to private organisations on 336 occasions.

In an effort to strengthen the corruption prevention capability of public and private sector organisations, the department continued to produce Best Practice Modules to provide guidance on ways to minimise corruption opportunities in common problem areas such as procurement, contract administration, staff management, outsourcing and construction. Seminars and workshops were arranged to promote best practices among these organisations.

Community Education

The Community Relations Department is tasked to educate the public against the evils of corruption and enlist the community's support in the fight against it. The department's work objectives are achieved mainly through the use of the mass media and direct liaison with various quarters of the community.

Maintaining a clean civil service remained a top priority for the department. It joined forces with the Civil Service Bureau to assist government departments in implementing the civil service integrity management programme with a view to building up an ethical culture. During the year, the department provided corruption prevention training for about 17 300 civil servants from 38 departments.

To enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness in tourism, an ethics promotion programme for the industry was launched jointly with six related organisations, with

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