Background of the establishment of the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption

There is a consensus among Hong Kong people that "ICAC is the cornerstone of Hong Kong's social development". As the propaganda of ICAO said, "Hong Kong's advantage lies in having you and ICAO." "You" is everyone in Hong Kong society, and "ICAO" is the abbreviation of Hong Kong ICAO: your honesty, self-discipline and active participation in anti-corruption and corruption prevention, together with ICAO's "fearlessness and selflessness", have become Hong Kong's competitive advantages, that is, a clean, efficient and transparent government operation mechanism and business environment. For a society, it is not difficult to establish an anti-corruption agency. What is difficult is how to build a strong and sustainable anti-corruption credibility from the deep level of the system to the specific operation.

The prevalence of corruption gave birth to ICAC in Hong Kong.

Before the 1970s, social corruption in Hong Kong was very serious. Even the fire brigade must pay black-hearted money to put out the fire, otherwise the firemen will have to sit still and watch the fire devour everything when they arrive.

A Hong Kong superintendent named Hande, who was later convicted in the ICAC anti-corruption storm, once made a famous confession: "Corruption has become a way of life of the Hong Kong Police Force, just as natural as sleeping at night and getting up and brushing your teeth during the day." From 65438 to 0973, Chief Superintendent Garbo of Kowloon, Hong Kong, who was suspected of embezzling HK$ 4.2 million, successfully fled the country during the investigation, causing great indignation in Hong Kong society. Fed up with corruption, Hong Kong people took to the streets and launched a massive "anti-corruption, arrest Peter Peter Godber" demonstration.

At that time, Governor MacLehose thought the situation was serious and appointed Senior Deputy Inspector Sir Barry Canal to set up a committee to investigate the case thoroughly. The famous Barry Canal Report published by Barry Canal later pointed out: "Unless the anti-corruption department within the Hong Kong Police Force can be separated from the police, the public will never believe that the government really has the heart to fight corruption." The report was approved by MacLehose. Under his impetus, the Legislative Council passed the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance in February 1974, announcing the establishment of an "independent anti-corruption organization, which has nothing to do with any government department, including the police", that is, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Before the establishment of 1974 Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Hong Kong was once a society where corruption was prevalent. In just a few years after the establishment of ICAC, Hong Kong has become one of the cleanest places in the world. Correspondingly, the ICAC in Hong Kong has also experienced the process from being initially questioned to rapidly establishing a strong credibility. In the relevant series of polls, people's confidence in ICAO has always remained at around 90%, and their support for the work of ICAO has exceeded 99%.

The Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption was established on February, 2005 1974 under the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance. It is independent of the Hong Kong government structure, and the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption is directly responsible to the Chief Executive. According to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ICAC is located in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and has full right to handle all anti-corruption work independently.