THE local appointed to replace ICAC head Bertrand de Speville will most likely be brought in from outside the organisation to aid independence after 1997.
A senior Government source said an officer had never been promoted from within the Independent Commission Against Corruption to the top of the organisation.
''It's never been a set policy, but more a colonial tradition,'' the well-placed source said. ''Despite its traditions it's something we don't want to change, particularly going into 1997, and I think the ICAC value having an outsider coming in to offer a fresh perspective.'' Several legislators - including legal representative Simon Ip Sik-on, independent appointee Christine Loh Kung-wai and Security Panel chairman Selina Chow Shuk-yee - have raised concerns about ICAC powers and its lack of accountability, particularly after 1997.
The policy of having the Commissioner accountable only to the Governor will continue after 1997, but the head of the post-Special Administrative Region will no longer be answerable to a democratic institution like the British Parliament.
Mr de Speville is due to retire in 1996. Under the Basic Law, the ICAC must be headed by a local.
He, like predecessor, the late Peter Allan, served for many years in the Legal Department, finishing as Solicitor-General. ''A legal and administrative background is considered important . . . more so than actual investigative skills,'' the source said.
