How powerful is Hong Kong’s icac?

Abbreviation: ICAC.

English: Independent Commission Against Corruption, abbreviation: ICAC.

Nature: It is an independent law enforcement agency in Hong Kong that specializes in combating corruption[4].

Previous name: Before Hong Kong returned to China, it was called the "Institute of the Governor-General's Independent Commission Against Corruption".

Time of establishment: February 15, 1974[2]

Reason for establishment: At that time, due to serious corruption problems in Hong Kong government departments, the situation in the police force was particularly serious, so the Independent Commission Against Corruption was established. 's appearance.

Departments: Integrity Commissioner, Administrative Headquarters, Enforcement Division, Corruption Prevention Division, Community Relations Division.

Independent advisory committees: Corruption Advisory Committee, Corruption Report Review Advisory Committee, Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee, and Community Relations Citizen Advisory Committee.

Classic advertising slogans: "Hong Kong is better because of ICAC" [2], "ICAC keeps secrets secretly" [2], "Fair, impartial and open".

ICAC 1997 advertising screening of "Talent": "Making money is not wrong. What is wrong is how you make money. Fairness does not mean that everyone earns one hundred yuan. Fairness means that you have earned one hundred yuan." If you have the ability of 20 yuan, you can earn 100 yuan; if you have the ability of 20 yuan, you can earn 20 yuan. This is fair. You may make more money than me today, but if I have more talent than you, I will eventually earn 20 yuan. One day I will make more money than you."

Before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was established in 1974, Hong Kong was a society where corruption was prevalent. In just a few years after the establishment of the ICAC, founded by Governor MacLehose, Hong Kong ranked among the most corrupt regions in the world, ranking 12th among 180 countries and regions ranked by Transparency International, and second in Asia. in Singapore. Correspondingly, the Hong Kong ICAC has also gone through a process from being initially questioned to quickly establishing strong credibility. In a series of relevant polls, the Hong Kong public's confidence in the ICAC has always remained at around 90, and their support for the work of the ICAC has exceeded 99. [5]

The Independent Commission Against Corruption Branch Office

The Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption was established on February 15, 1974 in accordance with the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance. It is independent of the Hong Kong government structure, and the Commissioner against Corruption reports directly to the Chief Executive. According to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the ICAC is located in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and has full and independent authority to handle all anti-corruption work.

ICAC Structure

Integrity Commissioner, Administrative Headquarters, Enforcement Division, Corruption Prevention Division, and Community Relations Division.

We will combat corruption through the "three-pronged approach" of law enforcement, corruption prevention, and education.

(1) Enforcement Division

Receive reports of corruption from the public and investigate suspected corruption crimes. [2]

Legal responsibilities:

(1) Accept and review corruption charges.

(2) Investigate any alleged or suspected offenses under the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance, the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance.

(3) Investigate the crime of extortion committed by any prescribed personnel suspected of abusing their powers.

(4) Investigate any behavior of prescribed personnel that is related to or may lead to corruption.

Organization:

(1) The Enforcement Division is the largest department of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. It is led by the head of the Enforcement Division. It has two main departments under its jurisdiction, responsible for investigating public and private organizations respectively. of corruption and related offences. The head of the Enforcement Division also serves as the Deputy Commissioner of Integrity and reports directly to the Commissioner of Integrity.

(2) The Enforcement Division frequently reports departmental work and consults opinions to the Advisory Committee for Review of Corruption Reports.

(2) Corruption Prevention Department

Review the work practices and procedures of various government departments and public institutions to reduce the possibility of corruption; in addition, the Department should also Providing corruption prevention consultancy services at the request of private organizations. [2]

Statutory responsibilities:

(1) Review the work practices and procedures of various government departments and public institutions, and recommend revisions to work methods and procedures that may easily lead to corruption .

(2) Provide corruption prevention suggestions at the request of private organizations and individuals.

(3) In its daily work, the Corruption Prevention Department often works closely with the management of various organizations and companies and serves as their advisor.

Organization:

(1) The Corruption Prevention Department (Corruption Prevention Department) is headed by a Director and has two Assistant Directors to assist in the execution of duties.

(2) The Corruption Prevention Department has a team of experienced professionals who are committed to providing effective corruption prevention advice to public and private organizations. They include:

Senior professionals Former government officials, engineers, surveyors, accountants and auditors, and information technology professionals

(3) The Corruption Prevention Department regularly reports on its work to the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee, which oversees the work of the Department.

(3) Community Relations Office

Educate citizens on the dangers of corruption and strive for their active support for anti-corruption work.

Legal responsibilities:

(1) Educate the public about the scourge of corruption.

(2) Winning public support for the work of combating corruption and promoting integrity.

Organization:

(1) The Community Relations Office (referred to as the Social Relations Office) is headed by a director, and its two divisions are led by two assistant directors.

(2) Community Relations Section

(1) It is mainly composed of multiple specialized groups. Its responsibilities include:

Develop the department’s publicity strategy to improve Citizens’ understanding of anti-corruption efforts. Promote the message of combating corruption and promoting integrity through mass media. Promote correct values ??through teachers, schools, and educational institutions. Maintain liaison and exchanges with mainland anti-corruption authorities.

(3) Community Relations Division

(2) Perform the following duties through its seven district offices:

Work directly with all sectors of society and the public Contact and promote integrity education. Accept corruption reports and inquiries.

Mission Statement

The Independent Commission Against Corruption is committed to safeguarding fairness, justice, stability and prosperity in Hong Kong. It must work together with all citizens and remain unswerving, and adopt a three-pronged approach of law enforcement, education, and prevention. Corruption and corruption.

Professional Code

ICAC staff are committed to maintaining the good reputation of the agency at all times and strictly abide by the following professional codes:

(1) Adhere to Principles of integrity and fairness.

(2) Respect the legal rights of everyone.

(4) Act absolutely in accordance with the law.

(5) Do not use your power and position for personal gain (for example, accepting gifts of more than 500 yuan must be approved by the chief executive, etc.).

(6) Strictly adhere to the principle of confidentiality according to actual needs (including colleagues in the same group not to discuss the cases they are responsible for with each other in private, not to disclose any information on the investigation to their families, and not to disclose any information on the investigation to colleagues in other groups) Etc. "The ICAC keeps everything confidential." The ICAC has done its best to protect whistleblowers, with an average of nearly 3,000 corruption reports every year, and no whistleblower has been harassed or retaliated due to leakage of information. If safety is threatened, the ICAC will dispatch a witness protection team to protect the situation. "The public's confidence in the confidentiality of the ICAC can be confirmed by the increasing proportion of real-name reports." Tang Xianming said confidently).

(7) Take responsibility for your own actions and instructions.

(8) Be consistent in words and deeds and be polite.

(9) Strive for perfection in personal and professional cultivation.

Legal powers

Corruption and bribery are a very hidden crime. It is very difficult to investigate and convict the perpetrators in court. Therefore, the ICAC is granted broad investigative powers by the following three pieces of legislation to combat corruption. They are the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance, the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance.

Prevention of Bribery Ordinance - Public Sector

Introduction to the legislation

Public officers (for the definition of public officers, please refer to the original text of the legislation) include prescribed officers and Employees of public institutions. Prescribed officers are subject to sections 3, 4, 5 and 10 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, while employees of public institutions (such as power companies, bus companies and hospitals, etc.) are only subject to sections 4 and 5. supervision.

Article 3: Prescribed personnel shall not solicit or accept any advantage without the general or special permission of the Chief Executive.

Article 4: It is illegal for any public official to solicit or accept benefits as an inducement or reward for performing his duties; it is also illegal for any public official to offer benefits. Article 5: It is illegal for any public official to solicit or accept benefits as an inducement or reward for assisting or exercising influence in contractual matters; and it is also illegal for a person to offer benefits.

Article 10: It shall be unlawful for a prescribed officer to have a standard of living or wealth owned/disposed that is not commensurate with his official income.

In the above-mentioned regulations, benefits include money, gifts, loans, commissions, positions, contracts, services, preferential treatment and exemption from legal liability in whole or in part, etc., but benefits do not include entertainment. Entertainment refers to food or drinks provided for on-site consumption, as well as other entertainment provided at the same time, such as song and dance performances, etc. Although accepting entertainment does not contravene the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, individual departments will still stipulate the circumstances under which employees accept entertainment.

Prevention of Bribery Ordinance - Private Sector

There are two reasons why the ICAC includes private sector and private enterprises within the scope of investigation: First, because a large number of private enterprises are involved in public interests, such as Corruption cases of listed companies, commercial kickbacks, etc., have actually directly or indirectly infringed on consumer rights; secondly, as companies are microeconomic entities in society, if their corruption is not included in the scope of investigation, the integrity of the entire society will become an empty talk , the government cannot be alone.

Statistics show that when the ICAC was first established, reports were mainly targeted at government departments and public institutions, accounting for as many as 86%; in recent years, reports have been mainly targeted at private institutions and enterprises. Continuous statistics show that this One proportion has exceeded 70 of the total number of annual reports.

Legal Introduction

(1) An agent (usually an employee) shall not, without the permission of the principal (usually an employer), conduct the affairs or business of his principal Anyone who solicits or accepts benefits is equally guilty.

(2) Benefits include money, gifts, loans, commissions, positions, contracts, services, preferential treatment and exemption from all or part of legal responsibilities, etc., but benefits do not include entertainment.

(3) Entertainment refers to food or drinks provided for on-site enjoyment, as well as other entertainment provided at the same time, such as song and dance performances, etc.

"Electoral (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance"

Legal Introduction

(1) "Electoral (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance" applies to legislation The specified elections and all conduct related to such elections, whether done before, after or during the election period, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere, are subject to the regulation of this Ordinance.

(2) The law applies to the following elections and related by-elections:

Chief Executive election, Legislative Council election, Election Committee subsector election, District Council election, and Heung Yee Kuk members Elections, Rural Committee chairman, vice-chairman and executive committee member elections, and village representative elections.

"Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance"

Introduction to the legislation

The "Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance" mainly gives the ICAC law enforcement powers, such as:

(1) The power to arrest, detain and grant bail.

(2) The power to search and seize evidence.

(3) The power to deal with other crimes discovered during corruption investigations (for details, please refer to section 10(5) of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance in the original text of the legislation).

Staff Rank

From highest to lowest:

The Commissioner of Integrity

The Deputy Commissioner of Integrity (also the head of the Enforcement Division) )

Operations Department

The Deputy Commissioner

Director

Assistant Director

Principal Investigator (PI)

Chief investigator (CI)

Senior Investigator (SI)

Investigation Investigator (I)

Assistant In