Documents destroyed after watchdog head made inquiries
The ICAC has been urged to clarify its handling of covert surveillance operations after a watchdog unveiled in its annual report four cases of unauthorised phone tapping of lawyers' conversations with clients in 2007.
Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing, the commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance, also revealed a debate with the Security Bureau over the watchdog's authority.
It was the first time the watchdog had pointed its finger at a specific law enforcement agency. Mr Justice Woo noted his concern that the 'legal professional privilege' (LPP) principle - guaranteed by the Basic Law - might be undermined.
In one case, on a day in February 2007, a panel judge revoked an Independent Commission Against Corruption phone-tapping authorisation at 11.15am. The agency later revealed that the operation, which tapped a lawyer-client conversation, was discontinued by 11.25am but the tap was not removed until 1pm. The case involved 105 minutes of unauthorised interception, but when the commissioner made inquiries, he was told that some relevant records had been destroyed as a matter of policy, the report said.
'Because of the destruction of records, I was unable to verify whether listening did cease at 11.25am on the day of revocation, as reported, and whether the LPP information obtained had been screened out and was not disseminated to investigators,' the report said.