ICAC of icac
Full name: ICAC of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
English: Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC),
Nature: This is an independent law enforcement agency dedicated to fighting corruption in Hong Kong.
Before Hong Kong's return to China, its predecessor was the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Established: 1974 February 14.
Reason for establishment: At that time, due to the serious corruption in Hong Kong government departments and the serious situation of the police force, the Independent Commission Against Corruption appeared.
Departments: Community Relations Department, Corruption Prevention Department, Administration Department, Administration Headquarters, ICAC Commissioner.
Independent Advisory Committees: Advisory Committee on Corruption, Advisory Committee on Review of Corruption Reports, Advisory Committee on Prevention of Corruption and Public Advisory Committee on Community Relations.
Classic advertising words: ◆ "It's better to have ICAC in Hong Kong "◆" ICAC is confidential and dense "and" fair, just and open "
Quotation: "It's right to make money. What is wrong is how you make money. Fairness does not mean that everyone earns 100 yuan. Fairness means that if you have the ability to earn 100 yuan, you can earn 100 yuan; If you have 20 yuan's ability, you can earn 20 yuan. This is fairness. Maybe you earn more money than me today, but if I am more talented than you, I will earn more money one day. " -ICAC 1997 Advertising Exhibition "Talented Talents" 1974 Before the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Hong Kong was once a society where corruption was prevalent. Within a few short years after the establishment of ICAC, Hong Kong has become one of the cleanest places in the world, ranking 12 among Transparency International 180 countries and regions, and second only to Singapore in Asia. 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. The Independent Commission Against Corruption consists of three departments: Law Enforcement Department, Corruption Prevention Department and Community Relations Department. The work of these three departments is investigation, prevention and education, and the three-pronged approach is to combat corruption. 1. The Action Department is the investigation department of ICAC, which is responsible for receiving, reviewing and investigating corruption allegations. Its information mainly comes from public reports to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. After receiving the report, the executive office will classify the information and immediately file an investigation.
3. Corruption Prevention Department-review the working practices and procedures of various government departments and public institutions to reduce possible corruption; In addition, it also provides corruption prevention consultancy services at the request of the private sector.
13. The Community Relations Department is also a very important department. Its strategy is to go deep into the community and urge people from all walks of life to take measures to prevent corruption and advocate correct values such as honesty and fairness. Its publicity and education means are face-to-face contact with the public, and mass media and print media are used to widely disseminate anti-corruption information, thus increasing the transparency of ICAC's work. In Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s, corruption was everywhere in broad daylight, and even the fire brigade had to rely on how much property it collected to put out the fire. Today's Hong Kong is a highly developed legal society, and there is almost no gray area where those who try to abuse power for personal gain succeed. All this is closely related to the anti-corruption efforts of ICAO, and it also shows that the existing operating mechanism of ICAO is very effective, which deserves our serious study and reference.
The above-mentioned "trinity" structure has become an efficient and clean organizational guarantee for ICAC: on the one hand, through the Executive Board, we will spare no effort to eliminate corruption, so that corrupt elements can catch greed and "dare not be greedy"; On the other hand, the focus of anti-corruption will be moved forward, and by reviewing the legal documents and working procedures of government departments, corruption loopholes will be blocked, so that relevant personnel will not dare to be corrupt; At the same time, through education and publicity, citizens "don't want to be greedy" and cultivate a deep soil for anti-corruption and self-discipline. ◆ I. ICAC Framework (ICAC) The Community Relations Department of the Corruption Prevention Department of the Executive Office of the Independent Commission Against Corruption has a three-pronged approach: law enforcement, corruption prevention and education. Corruption is combated through the "three-pronged approach" of three departments.
● 1. Executive Office-receiving reports of corruption from the public and investigating crimes suspected of corruption.
Statutory duties:
1. Accept and review corruption allegations.
1. Investigate any alleged or suspected crimes under the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance, the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance.
13. investigate the extortion crime committed by any prescribed person suspected of abusing his power.
4. Investigate any behavior of the designated personnel related to or likely to lead to corruption.
Organization:
1. The Executive Office is the largest department of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Headed by the Head of the Operations Department, the Department has two main departments to investigate corruption and related crimes in the public and private sectors respectively. The Director of the Administrative Office also serves as the Deputy Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption and is directly responsible to the Commissioner.
3. The Executive Branch regularly reports its work and opinions to the Advisory Committee on Corruption.
●2. Corruption Prevention Department-review the working practices and procedures of various government departments and public institutions to reduce possible corruption; In addition, it also provides corruption prevention consultancy services at the request of the private sector.
Statutory duties:
1. Review the working practices and procedures of various government departments and public institutions, and propose to revise the working methods and procedures that are prone to corruption.
2. Provide suggestions on preventing corruption at the request of private organizations and individuals.
13. In daily work, the Corruption Prevention Department often works closely with the management of various institutions and companies as their consultants.
Organization:
1. The corruption prevention department is headed by a director assisted by two assistant directors.
3. The Corruption Prevention Department has an experienced professional team dedicated to providing effective corruption prevention advice to public and private organizations. They include:
Former senior government officials, engineers, surveyors, accountants and auditors, and information technology professionals.
13. The Corruption Prevention Department regularly reports to the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee, which monitors its work.
●3- Community Relations Department-Educate the public about the evils of corruption and enlist their active support for anti-corruption work.
Statutory duties:
Educate the public about the dangers of corruption.
3. Strive for public support for anti-corruption work.
Organization:
1. The Community Relations Department is headed by a director, and its two branches are headed by two assistant directors.
1. The Community Relations Section (1) is mainly composed of several specialized groups, whose responsibilities include:
Formulate the propaganda strategy of the department to raise public awareness of anti-corruption work. Publicize the message of fighting corruption and promoting honesty through mass media. Promote correct values through teachers, schools and educational institutions. Keep in touch and communicate with the mainland anti-corruption authorities.
13. The Community Relations Division (2) performs the following functions through its seven branch offices:
Direct contact with all walks of life and the public to promote honesty education. Accept corruption reports and inquiries. ICAC staff always strive to maintain the good reputation of the department and strictly abide by the following professional codes:
1. Adhere to the principle of honesty and fairness.
4. Respect anyone's legal rights.
3. Fearless and impartial in performing their duties ("impartial and fearless"). This is the anti-corruption concept that ICAO has always adhered to, and it is also the basis for ICAO to gain social recognition. )
Act in strict accordance with the law.
5. Do not abuse power for personal gain (accepting gifts from 500 yuan or above requires the approval of the Chief Executive, etc.). ).)
6. Strictly abide by the principle of confidentiality according to actual needs (including that colleagues in the same group do not discuss their own cases in private, do not disclose any cases under investigation to their families, and do not disclose any cases under investigation to colleagues in other groups, etc. ). "The ICAC is confidential and highly confidential." The ICAC tries its best to protect whistleblowers. For more than 30 years, there have been nearly 3,000 corruption reports every year on average, and no whistleblower has been harassed or retaliated because of information disclosure. If the safety of witnesses is threatened, ICAC will deploy witness protection teams to protect them. "The public's confidence in the confidentiality of ICAC can be confirmed by the increase in the proportion of real-name reports." Xianming Tang said confidently. )
Be responsible for your actions and instructions.
Match words with deeds and be polite.
(9) It is a very hidden crime to strive for perfection in personal and professional accomplishment. It is difficult to investigate and convict the perpetrators in court. Therefore, the following three laws authorize ICAC to conduct extensive investigations 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 Institutions
Brief introduction of legislation
Public officials (for the definition of public officials, please refer to the original law) include the prescribed personnel and employees of public organizations. Prescribed personnel are regulated by sections 3, 4, 5 and 10 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, while employees of public organizations (such as power companies, bus companies and hospitals) are only regulated by sections 4 and 5.
Article 3: Without the general or special approval of the Chief Executive, prescribed personnel shall not ask for or accept any benefits.
Article 4: It is illegal for any public official to ask for or accept benefits as an inducement or reward for performing his duties. It is also illegal to offer benefits. Article 5: It is illegal for any public official to ask for or accept benefits as an inducement or reward for giving help or exerting influence in contract matters; It is also illegal to offer benefits.
Article 10: It is illegal to stipulate that a person's living standard or wealth owned/controlled is not commensurate with his official income.
In the above provisions, benefits include money, gifts, loans, commissions, positions, contracts, services, preferential treatment and exemption from all or part of legal responsibilities, but benefits do not include entertainment. Entertainment refers to food or drinks provided for live enjoyment, as well as other entertainment provided at the same time, such as song and dance performances. Although accepting entertainment will not violate the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, individual departments will still make provisions for their employees to accept entertainment.
◆● Prevention of Bribery Ordinance-Private Sector
ICAC included private institutions and private enterprises in the survey for two reasons: first, a large number of private enterprises involving public interests, such as corruption cases of listed companies and corporate kickbacks, actually directly or indirectly infringed on consumers' rights and interests; Second, as the microeconomic subject of society, if the corruption of enterprises is not included in the scope of investigation, the integrity of the whole society will become empty talk, and the government cannot be immune to it.
Statistics show that at the beginning of the establishment of ICAC, reports were mainly directed at government departments and institutions, accounting for 86%; However, in recent years, reports are mainly aimed at private institutions and enterprises, and continuous statistics show that this proportion has exceeded 70% of the total annual reports.
Brief introduction of legislation
1. Without the permission of the principal (usually the employer), the agent (usually the employee) shall not ask for or accept benefits for handling the affairs or business of his principal; And those who provide benefits are equally guilty.
Benefits include money, gifts, loans, commissions, positions, contracts, services, preferential treatment and exemption from all or part of legal responsibilities, 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.
◆● Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Acts) Ordinance
Brief introduction of legislation
1. The Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance is applicable to the elections listed in the law, and all acts related to these elections, whether conducted before, after or during the election period, and whether conducted in Hong Kong or elsewhere, are regulated by the Ordinance.
This law applies to the following elections and related by-elections:
Chief Executive Election Legislative Council Election Committee Subsector Election District Council Election Heung Yee Kuk Members Election Chairman, Vice Chairman and Executive Committee Members Election Village Representative Election
◆● Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance
Brief introduction of legislation
The ICAC act mainly authorizes ICAC to enforce laws, such as:
Power to arrest, detain and grant bail
Power to search and examine evidence.
13. The power to deal with other crimes exposed in the investigation of corruption cases (see article 10 (5) of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance in the original law for details) is from high to low:
ICAC Commissioner
Deputy Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (concurrently Director of the Administrative Office)
Administrative office operation department
Deputy Commissioner of ICAC
Director. Director.
Assistant director assistant director
Principal investigator (PI)
Chief investigator (CI)
Senior investigator
Investigator (1)
Assistant Investigator (Amnesty International)
Corruption prevention department
Director. Director.
Assistant director assistant director
Principal corruption prevention officer
Chief corruption prevention officer
Senior corruption prevention officer
Corruption prevention officer
Community relations department
Director. Director.
Assistant director assistant director
Principal corruption prevention officer
Chief Integrity Education Officer, Deputy Regional Officer
Senior Community Relations Officer, Senior Integrity Education Officer
ICAC Community Relations Officer Education Officer
As an anti-corruption investigation agency, ICAC, the assistant in charge of anti-corruption education, must have a good internal and external supervision and restriction mechanism to ensure its integrity. In this sense, the independence of ICAC can only be relative.
The law gives ICAC extensive investigation power, so it is necessary to establish a complete mechanism of supervision and checks and balances to prevent abuse of power. The mechanism mainly includes:
◆ 1. Appointing the Commissioner of Integrity
This is the chief executive's direct supervision of ICAC. Although ICAC is not under the jurisdiction of other government departments, the Commissioner of ICAC is responsible to the Chief Executive of the SAR and reports regularly to the Executive Council of the SAR.
◆ Ⅱ. Appointment of four advisory committees
This is the indirect supervision of the Chief Executive, who supervises the daily work of ICAC by appointing four advisory committees. These four committees are "1. Advisory Committee on Corruption. Corruption Report Advisory Committee. Advisory Committee on Corruption Prevention and 4. Citizen Advisory Committee on Community Relations ". However, in order to avoid the government's constraints on the work of ICAC, the members of the above four committees are mostly composed of social leaders and professionals appointed by the Chief Executive, and the chairmen are all unofficial (unofficial members are the chairmen).
Advisory Committee on Corruption
Nature: The Committee is an independent unofficial organization, which is responsible for monitoring the general working principles of ICAC and providing policy suggestions.
Terms of reference: to advise the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption on corruption in Hong Kong.
1. Monitor the policies of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in performing its duties, staffing and administrative affairs.
3. To advise on the actions to be taken by the Independent Commission Against Corruption under section 8 (2) of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance.
13. Hear the report of the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption on disciplinary actions taken by the ICAC against its staff.
4. Review the annual expenditure budget of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
5. Review the annual report of the Independent Commission Against Corruption before it is submitted to the Chief Executive.
Submit a report on the work of the Committee to the Chief Executive every year.
7. When necessary, reflect the Committee's concerns about the operation of ICAC or any problems it faces to the Chief Executive.
-◎ Advisory Committee to Review Corruption Reports
Nature: Independent unofficial organization. Each case of ICAO is as low as 100 yuan, and hundreds of millions of cases have to be audited by ICAO. Without the consent of ICAO, ICAO shall not stop its investigation. You can always ask personal questions to ICAC. The Committee is responsible for monitoring the investigation work of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Terms of reference: The Committee is responsible for monitoring the investigation work of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
1. Please listen to the report of the Commissioner of ICAO on all corruption reports received by ICAO and how ICAO handled these reports. 2. Listen to the report of the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption on the progress of all investigation cases that lasted more than one year or required a lot of resources.
13. The Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption shall report to the Committee as soon as possible the number of searches he authorized and the reasons, and explain the reasons for the urgent need for searches.
4. Listen to the report of the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption on all cases in which suspects have been released on bail for more than six months in ICAC.
5. Listen to the report of the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption on the cases that have been investigated by ICAC; And suggest the action to be taken if the Ministry of Justice decides not to prosecute or protect. 6. To hear the report of the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption on the prosecution and appeal results within the jurisdiction of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
7. Suggest to the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption that the information obtained from the investigation within the jurisdiction of ICAC be sent to relevant departments, public organizations, other organizations or individuals; Or under special circumstances, if the relevant information has been submitted before the Committee meeting, the Committee should consider the action at the subsequent meeting.
⒏ To provide opinions on other matters raised by the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption to the Committee or on his own initiative.
(9) Reflect to the Chief Executive any concerns about the operation of the executive office or any problems faced by the committee.
(5) Submit an annual report to the Chief Executive, and the contents of the annual report shall be announced to the public.
-Advisory Committee on the Prevention of Corruption
Nature: an independent unofficial organization, which mainly supervises the Department of Corruption Prevention.
Terms of reference: The Committee is responsible for recommending the priority of corruption prevention research to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and reviewing all completed corruption prevention research reports.
1. Listen to and ask the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to report the working practices and procedures of relevant government departments, public institutions and private institutions that may contribute to corruption, and suggest the items to be examined and the order of examination to the ICAC Commissioner.
1. To study the recommendations based on the review results and advise the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption on further actions.
13. Monitoring the implementation of the recommendations based on the observations of the Advisory Committee.
-Public Advisory Committee on Community Relations
Nature: Independent unofficial organization, mainly supervising the Department of Community Relations.
Terms of reference: The Committee is responsible for making suggestions to ICAO on strategies to promote honesty education, and seeking support from all sectors of society for the work of ICAO.
1. Suggest to the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption how to win public support to fight corruption and how to educate the public about the harm of corruption.
3. Listen to and ask the Community Relations Department of the Independent Commission Against Corruption to report on the work done to achieve the above objectives.
13. Monitor the public's reaction to the work of ICAC and the general attitude towards corruption.
◆ Ⅲ. Chief Executive/Executive Council
ICAC is directly responsible to the chief executive. The Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption also reports regularly to the Executive Council.
◆ ⅵ. Supervision of the Legislative Council
The Legislative Council has the power to grant or revoke the power of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), requiring ICAC to attend the meetings of the Legislative Council, and requiring ICAO to accept questions from Members on its policies and funds.
Five, the right of independent prosecution
ICAC has extensive power of investigation, but no power of prosecution. The Secretary for Justice, who is accountable to the Chief Executive, decides whether to refer the investigated case to the court.
Whether to prosecute after investigation belongs to the power of the Secretary for Justice. Separating the powers of investigation and prosecution can ensure that the decision of prosecution will not be based solely on the judgment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, thus preventing abuse of power.
◆ ⅵ. Judicial supervision
Judicial independence can ensure that ICAC will not deviate from the rule. Under judicial supervision, the ICAC must obtain the permission of the court before exercising certain powers. At the same time, ICAC will carefully study the opinions or criticisms made by judges on the investigation work and review the law enforcement procedures to ensure that its power will not be abused.
◆ ⅶ. Media-public supervision
Through media supervision, ICAC's accountability to the public will continue to strengthen.
◆ Eight. Independent Commission Against Corruption Complaints Committee
The Complaints Committee of the Independent Commission Against Corruption operates independently, monitoring and reviewing all non-criminal complaints involving ICAO and its personnel, and monitoring work complaints against ICAO. Members of the Committee are appointed by the Chief Executive, with the Chairman being a member of the Executive Council, and other members including members of the Executive Council, members of the Legislative Council and community leaders.
◆ ⅸ. Internal supervision
ICAC requires its employees to abide by the highest standards of integrity. Since its establishment, ICAC has set up an internal investigation and monitoring unit, called Unit L, which is responsible for investigating and supervising ICAC employees to ensure their integrity and efficiency. If ICAC officials are accused of corruption or related criminal offences, Section L will investigate. The headquarters of L Group is not in the headquarters building of ICAC. As for where they are, even the serving ICAC officers don't know what their staff is.