2023-7-20

For the first time, veteran graft-fighters in Hong Kong were invited by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to share at the UNODC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria on how the local anti-corruption agency leveraged the latest technology to effectively crack corruption cases. The anti-corruption workshops, hosted by senior ICAC officers, were attended by over 100 participants from the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network).

The ICAC delegation, led by Bryan Chong Ka-lok, Assistant Director of Operations Department, was in Vienna last week (July 10 to 13) to attend the Fifth Steering Committee Meeting and the Fourth Plenary Meeting of the GlobE Network as a member of the Chinese delegation.

With the support of the country and at the invitation of UNODC, the ICAC hosted two anti-corruption workshops spanning one-and-a-half day to showcase the use of technology in the fight against corruption. Over 100 representatives of GlobE Network attended the workshops in person, while a few dozen also participated online. The overwhelming response reflected the recognition and support for ICAC’s anti-graft work from the international community.

At the workshops, the ICAC delegation used a simulated case to illustrate how to make the most of technology in corruption investigations. The delegation also briefed participants on the Commission’s newly launched Third Generation Video Interview Rooms (VIRs). The upgraded video-recording equipment in the VIRs is set to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness in investigations, as well as to facilitate the court, the prosecution and the defence to promptly and accurately grasp the content of a video interview, which will be conducted with even greater transparency with the enhancement.

Ms Brigitte Strobel-Shaw, Chief of Corruption and Economic Crime Branch of the UNODC, noted that she was impressed by the ICAC’s use of technology in her earlier visit to the Commission. She also remarked that the GlobE Network had a diverse membership. The workshops hosted by the ICAC would enable GlobE Network members to avail themselves to greater anti-corruption capacity with the use of technology.

Mr Guillermo Prieto Redondo, Spain – Chair of the Steering Committee of the GlobE Network, remarked that the workshops offered rewarding experience to members of the GlobE Network as they could learn from the ICAC which possessed 50 years of graft-fighting experience. The GlobE Network looked forward to more collaborations with the ICAC in future, he added.

The GlobE Network is a platform established by the United Nations in June 2021 to facilitate information exchange and transnational cooperation among the anti-corruption and law enforcement authorities around the world to ensure that States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) are equipped with the capability for combating corruption. The GlobE Network currently has over 160 members.

In 2006, the country has designated the ICAC as the authority to assist other signatories to UNCAC in building up their capacity to fight corruption, strengthening collaboration with and offering capacity building programmes to anti-corruption agencies in other jurisdictions under the framework of the UNCAC. The ICAC will continue to tie in with the country’s corruption policy and further promote Hong Kong’s probity culture and graft fighting experience. The Commission is consolidating existing resources and facilities to set up the Hong Kong International Academy Against Corruption to provide systematic and sustainable anti-corruption training courses for graft fighters from overseas organisations and local law enforcement agencies.

The ICAC delegation led by Bryan Chong Ka-lok, Assistant Director of Operations Department, also included Bonnie Wong Kar-man, Principal Investigator; Eric Chan Cheuk-hay, Chief Academy Officer; Gary Wong Hon-kit, Chief Investigator; and Karson Li Tsz-hin, Senior Investigator.