ENG-2011 — Page 400

348 Public Order

Commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance

The Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance, which came into effect on August 9, 2006, provides a new statutory regime for the authorisation and regulation of interception of communications and covert surveillance conducted by law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for the purposes of preventing or detecting serious crime and protecting public security. The ordinance provides for the appointment of a Commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance as an independent oversight authority. On the recommendation of the Chief Justice, the Chief Executive appointed Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, as the commissioner. The commissioner is assisted by a secretariat in performing his functions under the ordinance.

The main duties of the commissioner are to oversee and conduct reviews on the compliance by LEAS and their officers with the relevant requirements under the ordinance; carry out examinations upon applications from people who suspect that they are subjects of interception or covert surveillance conducted by LEAS; give notifications to those affected in cases of interception or covert surveillance without the authority of a prescribed authorisation; and make recommendations to the Secretary for Security on the code of practice issued under the ordinance and to the heads of LEAs to better carry out the objects of the ordinance and the provisions of the code of practice.

The commissioner is required to submit annual reports to the Chief Executive with statistical information and his assessment on the overall compliance with the relevant requirements under the ordinance during the report period. The annual report for 2010, covering the period from January 1 to December 31, 2010, was submitted to the Chief Executive in June 2011 and tabled in the Legislative Council in November 2011.

Civil Aid Service

The Civil Aid Service (CAS) is a government auxiliary emergency service established under the Civil Aid Service Ordinance. It has an establishment of 3 634 adult members, 3 232 cadets and 102 civil servants.

CAS members are trained to perform emergency duties during typhoons, floods and landslides; to search for and rescue people in distress in mountains; to help evacuate or rescue victims trapped under collapsed buildings or buried in landslides; and to combat vegetation fires and oil pollution at sea. In 2011, CAS members carried out one rescue operation during a tropical cyclone, 69 mountain search and rescue operations, and 14 vegetation fire-fighting operations.

During the passage of Typhoon Nesat in September 2011, CAS members were mobilised to stand by at various operational bases. In November 2011, the CAS rendered assistance to the victims of the No. 4 alarm fire in Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok.