Public Order 1 325
The Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance (ICSO) was enacted in August 2006 to regulate covert surveillance and telecommunications interception carried out by law enforcement agencies. Following the promulgation of the ICSO, the ICAC has drawn up operational procedures to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements.
Prevention
The Corruption Prevention Department has a statutory duty to advise government departments and public bodies on measures to minimise corruption risks in their systems and procedures. By working closely with the management of these organisations, the department identifies potential opportunities for corruption, and recommends ways to plug these loopholes and strengthen system controls.
During the year, the department conducted 96 corruption prevention reviews covering different areas of public administration including environmental protection, public works, public housing, education, public procurement and law enforcement. The department also provided expeditious advice on 348 occasions to public sector organisations to help them build corruption prevention measures into procedures, legislation or policies which were being drawn up.
The department's Advisory Services Group provides free and confidential advice in corruption prevention to private sector organisations upon request. In 2006, the group offered advice to private sector organisations on 366 occasions. It also issues Best Practice Packages to provide general guidelines for these organisations to minimise corruption opportunities in common problematic areas such as procurement and contract management. In addition, workshops were organised for various trades and industries to help them implement the recommended best practices.
To address problems revealed in the operation of some travel agents, the group promulgated a Best Practice Module that provides a checklist of best practices for travel agents to follow. Two seminars were organised with the regulatory authorities in the banking and telecommunications industries respectively to raise staff awareness to potential corruption risks in handling customer data.
Community Education
The Community Relations Department is responsible for educating the public against the evils of corruption and enlisting public support for anti-corruption drives with the help of the mass media and through face-to-face meetings with the public.
To further sustain a culture of probity in the civil service, the department and the Civil Service Bureau launched a programme on ethical leadership at the end of 2006. Under this programme, government bureaux and departments will assign directorate officers to act as ethics officers to take charge of the strategy and implementation of initiatives to further strengthen integrity in their organisations.
The department also continued to help different industries and professions in the private sector to improve their business and professional ethics. The department produced a training package for the banking and financial services industries, which
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