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Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Leung and a reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, in the Legislative Council today (July 3):
Question:
It has been reported that recently the way in which a former Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (the Commissioner) handled expenses on official entertainment, bestowal of gifts and duty visits during his term of office has aroused public concern and has seriously damaged the image and reputation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Quite a number of members of the public have pointed out that it was likely that the former Commissioner had adopted such practices for the purpose of building a social network that was conducive to his post-service advancement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has established guidelines for the appointment of the Commissioner, to assist the Chief Executive in identifying a suitable candidate for appointment as the Commissioner; whether the authorities have objective criteria for determining the suitability of candidates for the post of the Commissioner; whether it will consider conducting open recruitment for the post of the Commissioner and establishing a selection board to select the suitable candidate;
(b) whether it will review the mechanism for appointing the Commissioner, and give priority to retired judges or retired public officers with good reputation in considering candidates for the post of the Commissioner, so as to prevent the occurrence of the situation of the Commissioner utilising his official capacity during his term of office to build a social network that is conducive to his post-service advancement; and
(c) whether it has formulated guidelines to govern the Commissioner's post-service employment and business arrangements; whether the authorities have in place measures to prevent the Commissioner's discharge of duties from being affected by his concerns about the chance of being appointed to certain public offices after leaving the office; if there are such measures, of the details?
Reply:
President,
The question of Honourable Kenneth Leung mentions that the way in which the former Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) handled expenses on official entertainment, bestowal of gifts and duty visits during his term of office has given rise to community concerns. I wish to take this opportunity to reiterate that ICAC has, since its establishment, devoted itself to anti-corruption work and it has successfully upheld Hong Kong's core value of fairness and probity. We understand that the public attaches great importance to the work of ICAC and has a very high expectation of the personal integrity of the ICAC personnel, in particular that of the senior management. To this end, the Administration attaches great importance to the incident and handles it seriously in order to maintain public confidence in ICAC.
The Chief Executive (CE) announced on May 2 this year the establishment of an Independent Review Committee (IRC) to review ICAC's regulatory systems and procedures for handling expenses on official entertainment, gifts and duty visits, including arrangements for application, reimbursement and approval; review the compliance of ICAC staff of all ranks during the term of the former Commissioner of ICAC with the regulatory systems and procedures; and make recommendations on any measure conducive to improving the above systems and procedures. The IRC will submit its report to CE within four months. The report of the IRC will be released to the public, except any parts which may need to be dealt with separately for legal reasons.
My response to the three parts of the question raised by Honourable Leung is as follows:
(a) Pursuant to Article 57 of the Basic Law, a Commission Against Corruption shall be established in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It shall function independently and be accountable to CE.
Pursuant to Article 48 of the Basic Law, CE nominates and reports to the Central People's Government for appointment all principal officials, including the Commissioner of ICAC. Article 61 of the Basic Law stipulates that the principal officials of HKSAR shall be Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Region with no right of abode in any foreign country and have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 15 years. We consider that it is not necessary to have other requirements in addition to those set out under the Basic Law.
(b) Consistent with the appointment of other principal officials, CE handles the appointment of the Commissioner of ICAC by strictly adhering to the requirements under the Basic Law; and credentials, experiences and abilities as well as personal integrity are also the bases for appointing a Commissioner of ICAC, so that ICAC can exercise its statutory functions effectively and uphold Hong Kong's core value of probity and fairness. Giving priority to retired judges or retired public officers in the appointment of the Commissioner of ICAC will, on the contrary, confine the inclusion of different talents. We therefore do not consider it appropriate.
(c) There are specific requirements on the employment and business arrangements of the Commissioner of ICAC upon leaving his office. By virtue of his employment contract, the regulatory post-office employment and business arrangements of the incumbent Commissioner of ICAC are comparable to those applicable to politically appointed officials. For instance,
(i) within the control period of one year after stepping down from office, the Commissioner of ICAC is prohibited from representing any person in connection with any claim, action, demand, proceedings, transaction or negotiation against or with the Government, and from engaging in any lobbying activities on matters relating to the Government; and
(ii) within the control period of one year after stepping down from office, the Commissioner of ICAC shall first seek advice from a committee, the members of which shall be determined by CE, before commencing any employment, becoming a director or a partner in any business or profession or starting any business or profession on his own account or with others. According to the employment contract, the committee will, in tendering its advice, consider, among other factors:
(1) whether the proposed employment or appointment and any consequential associations necessarily and directly incidental thereto has adversely affected or compromised, or will adversely affect or compromise the Government's performance of its functions;
(2) whether the proposed employment or appointment would give rise to any reasonable belief, concern or public perception that the Government's performance of its functions during the term of office of the officer concerned and within one year thereafter could have been or could be adversely affected or compromised;
(3) whether the proposed employment or appointment would or is likely to cause reasonable negative public perception;
(4) whether the proposed employment or appointment would enable the prospective employer or business to gain any unfair advantage over competitors by making use of privileged information obtained by the officer concerned while in office; and
(5) whether his right to work and to exploit his technical skills and experience would be unreasonably restricted.
Thank you, President.
Ends/Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:55
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