page_title: Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong)
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong) / Development
caption_attribution_description: the ICAC office in en:Admiralty, Hong Kong
context_page_description: The Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong was established by Governor Sir Murray MacLehose on 15 February 1974, when Hong Kong was under British rule. Its main aim was to clean up endemic corruption in the many departments of the Hong Kong Government through law enforcement, prevention and community education.
  The ICAC is independent of the Hong Kong Civil Service. The Basic Law of Hong Kong stipulates that the ICAC shall function independently and be directly accountable to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Previous to the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, ICAC reported directly to the Governor of Hong Kong, and appointments to the ICAC were also made directly by his office.
  The ICAC is headed by a Commissioner. Since 1997, the Commissioner of the ICAC has been appointed by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, based on the recommendations of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
context_section_description: In the early days there were running punch-ups between ICAC officers and angry policemen who stormed their offices in Central District; this situation ended only with the announcement of a partial amnesty for minor corruptions committed before 1977. But gradually, the ICAC made itself felt and several high profile police officers were tried and convicted. Others were forced to retire. As a result of its investigations, a mass purge took place in early 1978, where it was announced that 119 officers including one customs official were asked to leave under the provisions of Colonial Regulation 55 (see footnote 1 below) to fast track the decisions in the public interest; a further 24 officers were held on conspiracy charges, and 36 officers and a customs official were given amnesties. The move received a mixed response from the public whilst being broadly supported by legislative councillors as being in the best interests of Hong Kong not to let the affair fester and further demoralise the police Force. Urban Council member Elsie Elliot criticised the government for being lenient to senior corrupt officials, punishing only "small flies".
  Gradually, Hong Kong transformed from a graft-ridden city into one of the least corrupt places in the world, as recognised by international institutions such as the World Bank, The Heritage Foundation and Transparency International. Some countries have looked to the ICAC as an effective model of combating graft holistically through detection, prevention, and education.
  In the 1970s, eight out of 10 graft complaints were against public officers. This trend has reversed over the years. Complaints against police officers reduced by 70 percent— from 1,443 in 1974 to 446 in 2007. Nowadays, only three out of 10 complaints relate to public servants. Private sector cases meanwhile have been on the rise in recent years. The ICAC has stepped up efforts to help enterprises minimise corruption risks through system controls and staff training. (The statistics are provided by the ICAC.)
  In 2008, corruption reports received by the ICAC dropped six per cent to 3,377, of which 65 per cent were related to the private sector, 28 per cent concerned government departments, and the remaining seven per cent were against public bodies.
  Research on corruption — carried out by the Anti Corruption Resource Centre — shows that police corruption in Hong Kong was frequently associated with "illegal markets" or "victimless crimes" such as gambling, prostitution and drugs. Thus, the decision to legalise off-course betting in Hong Kong — a previously rich source of police bribes — may plausibly have contributed to the fall in police corruption. The investigative, preventive, and educational activities of the ICAC no doubt also had some impact but were not solely or even largely responsible for reducing police corruption.
caption: ICAC former office in the top floors of the Murray Road Multi-storey Car Park Building,  in Admiralty, used from 1978 until 2007
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