Scott, Ian --- "The Hong Kong ICAC’s Approach to Corruption Control" [2011] ELECD 1008; in Graycar, Adam; Smith, G. Russell (eds), "Handbook of Global Research and Practice in Corruption" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Handbook of Global Research and Practice in Corruption

Editor(s): Graycar, Adam; Smith, G. Russell

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849805018

Section: Chapter 21

Section Title: The Hong Kong ICAC’s Approach to Corruption Control

Author(s): Scott, Ian

Number of pages: 15

Extract:

21 The Hong Kong ICAC's approach to
corruption control
Ian Scott


Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)
is often regarded as a model of the way in which efforts to prevent and
control corruption should be organized and implemented. Its achieve-
ment in transforming Hong Kong from a place where corrupt practices
were accepted to a place in which they are the exception has been widely
admired and studied (Lethbridge, 1985; Huberts, 2000; Quah, 2003,
pp. 129­45; Manion, 2004, pp. 27­83; Scott, 2010, pp. 112­116, 267­70;
de Speville, 2010). In those studies, the ICAC's success is attributed to its
distinctive characteristics, which may be said to form a syndrome in the
sense that each of its features is thought to be necessary for the organi-
zation to work well. The principal features of this model of corruption
control include:

a single organization with a de facto monopoly over corruption
control rather than multiple anti-corruption organizations perform-
ing the same function;
independence from government;
a strategy of prevention, education and sanction that is reflected
organizationally in the division of the ICAC into Corruption
Prevention, Community Relations and Operations Departments;
extensive powers that include the right of arrest and detention;
secure funding even in the face of major cutbacks in public
expenditure;
personnel of the highest moral calibre;
the political will to combat corruption; and
public support of sufficient strength that the ICAC has repeatedly
been found to be the most trusted organization ...