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Public Order

Support Clean Election programmes were launched for candidates, election helpers and electors at the 2020 Legislative Council General Election. As the election was postponed, the programmes will be revived in 2021.

International and Mainland Liaison

In 2020, the ICAC continued to collaborate with overseas, Mainland and Macao counterparts to promote Hong Kong's integrity environment and robust anti-corruption regime to the international community. Anti-corruption capacity building programmes were conducted for other jurisdictions within the framework of the United Nations (UN) Convention against Corruption.

Checks and Balances

The ICAC functions independently and is accountable to the Chief Executive. Its work is subject to the scrutiny of four independent committees: the Advisory Committee on Corruption, Operations Review Committee, Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee and Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations. The committee chairmen host an annual press conference to account for their oversight of the ICAC.

All corruption complaints, whether pursuable or not, must be reported to the Operations Review Committee for scrutiny. No investigation is concluded without its endorsement. An independent ICAC Complaints Committee, comprising members of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council as well as prominent members of the community appointed by the Chief Executive, monitors and, where appropriate, reviews the ICAC's handling of non-criminal complaints against the ICAC or its staff.

Commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance

The Commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance is an independent oversight authority, appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of the Chief Justice. The Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance provides a statutory regime for the authorisation and regulation of interception of communications and covert surveillance conducted by law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to prevent or detect serious crime and protect public security.

A secretariat assists the commissioner in performing the commissioner's statutory duties, which include overseeing and conducting reviews on the compliance by LEAs and their officers with the ordinance's relevant requirements; carrying out examinations upon applications from persons who suspect that they are subjects of interception or covert surveillance conducted by LEAS; giving notifications to those affected in cases of interception or covert surveillance without the authority of a prescribed authorisation; and making 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 or the provisions of the code of practice.

The commissioner submits annual reports to the Chief Executive with statistical information and his assessment of overall compliance with the ordinance's requirements. The 2019 annual report was submitted to the Chief Executive in June 2020 and tabled in the Legislative Council in December.

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