Commission Against Corruption, Macao SAR

Although a hit by the sudden pandemic has inevitably affected the progress of part of the work, the CCAC did not slacken in its work and planning but made the most of the timing and made appropriate adjustments. It carried out the actions of corruption prevention and suppression according to the anti-corruption plans mapped out in 2020.

Looking back at 2020, following the planning of long-term development in various aspects, the CCAC united with all forces and spared no efforts to meet the Macao SAR Government's requirement of "strengthening corruption fighting and auditing and ensuring integrity and efficiency" without fear of uncertainty by launching the short, medium and long-term promotion and education projects as planned in an orderly and practical manner; widely promoting the social responsibility lied in the filing of identifiable complaints and reports, strengthening the general public's awareness of report filing, timely reporting case follow-up progress and results to the public, jointly promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of follow-up on and handling of problems with various departments, continuously combating the crimes within its jurisdiction, especially the cases of fraud over various kinds of subsidies and financial aids granted by the Government. Under the pandemic, the CCAC kept on conducting necessary external exchange through communication technologies instead of traditional face-to-face meetings. After the outbreak became under control, the CCAC resumed necessary connection and exchange with local educational organisations and schools to ensure that integrity education was carried out without disruption. Whilst the long-term development plan of integrity building was implemented, the CCAC spared no effort to perfect its organisation and operation and commenced the study of the feasibility of developing an exclusive information system in order to meet the needs of electronic data integration and long-term development. In addition, the CCAC also tried to develop channels of lateral communication with other public departments such as judicial agencies in order to comply with the Government's policy of strengthening cross-departmental cooperation and to lay a solid foundation of the Government's actions for the next fiscal year.

As the year 2021 is approaching, the CCAC will adjust its priorities to support the Legislative Assembly Elections by making an all-out effort in the promotion and education of corruption prevention and combat illegal activities related to the elections in order to safeguard the integrity of the elections with various approaches.

1.		Electoral corruption prevention and integrity of all citizens: Under the Government's public health policies, the CCAC will launch integrity education and promotion activities in different forms for different targets accordingly. Through diversified channels, including the long-term promotion plan "All for Integrity", talks and seminars, city orienteering contest, street counters, touring exhibition, plays and radio dramas based on everyday life situations, school touring drama, advertisements in different forms and columns, the message of clean election will be promoted in an all-round manner. At the same time, the CCAC will continue to carry out various integrity education activities, co-organise education theatres with different organisations and hold talks and "Integrity Weeks" in schools. In addition, with education resources online and by forming an advisory group to widely collect opinions from the education sector, the awareness of integrity will be disseminated to families, schools and the community in a way which caters for real needs.
2.		Fight corruption and strictly monitor public funds: The CCAC will form an anti-electoral corruption task force, launch an online report platform and a report hotline and publicly inspect the places where crimes of electoral bribery are most likely to occur in order to fully exert the function of monitoring the Legislative Assembly Elections in accordance with the law. The CCAC will also pay attention to the bribery crimes which may occur in the weakened commercial environment in the aftermath of the pandemic, keep on cracking down on the frauds over various kinds of subsidies and financial aids granted by the Government. In view of these work directions, the CCAC will further strengthen the training for investigation personnel on legal knowledge, investigation methods, electronic forensics, financial analysis and up-to-date information technologies. As to declaration of assets and interests, the CCAC will seek the opportunity to launch cooperation with another statutory depository entity in order to jointly establish a platform for sharing of data related to declaration of assets and interests.
3.		Integration and cross-departmental collaboration: The CCAC will perfect the internal process of ombudsman work, encourage citizens to file identifiable reports and complaints, integrate the objectives of investigations and inspections in order to render effective recommendations and follow-up to the relevant departments or entities in a centralised and standardised manner. Also, the CCAC will continue to implement the retrospective review mechanism, which was unable to be fully implemented due to the pandemic, and review the "Integrity Management Plan – Protocol of Collaboration". Regarding the projects of monitoring of public assets, the possibility of cooperation between the anti-graft and the auditing areas will be advocated. Moreover, the CCAC will seek to promote cross-departmental cooperation in the issues concerning the objectives of ombudsman cases investigation.
4.		Exchange within the Greater Bay Area and broadening the horizons: In line with the development of connection between Macao and the Greater Bay Area and the main policy and positioning to transform Macao into "a centre, platform and base", the CCAC will proactively strengthen in-depth communication and exchange with the National Supervisory Commission and the relevant competent departments in the Greater Bay Area and will invite experts from the Chinese mainland to provide the personnel with professional knowledge training in order to broaden their horizons and let them keep up with the times. Meanwhile, the CCAC will proactively overcome the obstacles caused by the pandemic by using information technologies to cooperate with China in the review work of implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
5.		Establishment of system, Consolidation and Innovation: In line with the promotion of electronic government and informatisation of social development, the CCAC will, based on its existing information system, proactively integrate and establish internal databases, develop a standardised document and case management system and an electronic case file system and will introduce handy functions to the new website, including the system which enables citizens to make online appointments for in-person complaint or report and submission of declaration of assets and interests. Attention will also be paid to training on professional knowledge and skills for personnel working in different areas regardless of their seniority. In addition, based on the continuous analysis of the Organic Law of the Commission Against Corruption of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Organisation and Operation of the Service of the Commission Against Corruption, the CCAC will practically and prudently review the development plans and legislation of its organisation, structure, competence and functions, investigators' career regime, the forms of their connection with the Public Administration and the regime of salary and benefits and thus draft the bill and propose it to the competent department as soon as possible.

 

1. Directions of long-term development of integrity building

(1)	Publicity, education and community relations

Although a majority of the talks and public events were cancelled and postponed due to the pandemic and school suspension, the CCAC, with the aim to promote the concept "To Act with Virtue, to Live with Integrity", disseminated the awareness of integrity and honesty to all citizens, strengthened integrity education and proactively carried out other promotion and education activities, including the "Integrity Lesson Plan Design Collection Activity", a live broadcasting event on Children's Day - "Get through the Pandemic with William", updates on the column "Stories about Integrity" on the webpage "Database of Education on Integrity" on the website of the CCAC, the launch of lesson plans for secondary schools entitled "Honesty under the Pandemic" and "Responsibilities in the Fight against the Pandemic", "Dissemination of Integrity in Schools" recruitment of teenage ambassadors of honesty and integrity in practice project in schools and the first recruitment of parent-child volunteer groups.

The said promotion and education activities provided teachers and parents with comprehensive education materials about integrity and morals for their students or children, through which they might instruct students to think about their own responsibilities and the importance of integrity in the public health incidents, spread the message of integrity and honesty among students in different age groups and instil the message of integrity and honesty and clean elections in families, thus serving as preparation for the actions to promote integrity of the Legislative Assembly Elections in 2021. In 2020 (up to 30^th September), the CCAC held a total of 121 talks and seminars for 6,254 participants.

In addition, in line with the long-term promotion plan "All for Integrity", in 2020, the CCAC launched the "Chapter on Public Servant", which specifically introduced the concept of "public servant" defined by the Penal Code. Through animated short clip series played on buses, prize quizzes on the CCAC's official WeChat account, the launch of the "Webpage on information about integrity for public servants", the general public's and public servants' understanding of the concept of "public servant" in a sense of criminal law was strengthened, especially the concepts of "public servant" and "those equivalent to public servants". At the same time, the CCAC adopted multiple approaches to enhance public servant's awareness of disciplinary and legal observance with an aim to nip corruption in the bud.

Upon the completion of renovation, the Branch Office of the CCAC in Areia Preta has reopened to the public. In order for schools to better understand the actions of integrity education taken by the CCAC, all local primary and secondary schools were invited to visit the integrity education base in the Branch Office so that they may make good use of the education resources provided by the CCAC to prepare teaching materials suitable for their students. In 2020 (up to 30^th September), the CCAC arranged visits to the Branch Office by the principals, coordinators and teachers of the relevant subjects from eight schools.

(2)	The ombudsman's work

In 2020 (up to 30^th September), the CCAC filed 209 cases in the area of ombudsmanship for investigation. In accordance with the policies outlined in the year, the CCAC focused on boosting the effectiveness of follow-up on the cases, strictly performed the duties bestowed upon the law, as well as referred the cases fell beyond its jurisdiction to the competent departments in order to help citizens solve their problems in an effective way. Meanwhile, the CCAC also progressively reviewed and compared the cases handled currently and previously and made an initial plan of retrospective reviews in the area of ombudsmanship.

"Identifiable complaining and strict supervision" is one of the directions of long-term integrity building. In 2020, through replies to legislators' enquiries, streamlining of the case notification procedure and pragmatic promotion in diversified ways, the CCAC explained to citizens the fact that filing identifiable complaints or reports in person would be protected by the confidentiality mechanism.

The CCAC has been complying with Law no. 10/2000 (Organic Law of the Commission Against Corruption), which stipulates that the investigations and inquiries carried out by the CCAC are subject to the strictest justice secrecy regime provided by the Penal Code and the Penal Procedure Code. Even when releasing relevant information or making comments, the CCAC's personnel shall comply with the duty of confidentiality. In fact, 54.6% of the complaints and reports received in 2019 were anonymous. However, there was a drop in anonymous complaints and reports to 35.9% in 2020 (up to 30^th September), which demonstrates citizens' recognition and support for and trust in the CCAC's advocacy to encourage filing complaint and report in a responsible manner and reflects that citizen's awareness of such issue is being strengthened gradually and they are more willing to dedicate efforts together with the CCAC.

It is noteworthy that filing identifiable complaint or report with contact information helps the CCAC more accurately grasp the information which may become the key to the investigation, identify signs of illegality and thus minimise the possibility to directly archive the cases for the reason that they cannot be investigated.

In compliance with Paragraph 2 of Article 13 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the CCAC has been handling anonymous complaints and reports with compassion and flexibility. As long as there are preliminary indications in these cases that meet the requirements for opening a file for investigation despite the lack of clearer and more accurate information directly provided by the complainant or informant, the CCAC still does the best as possible to conduct investigation and search evidence within its scope of competence and overcome the difficulties caused by inadequate data. However, the CCAC is often unable to verify and ascertain the facts due to lack of specific details in the anonymous complaints and reports and eventually the investigations were futile. Up to 30^th September 2020, of the 77 cases reported anonymously and opened for investigation in the area of ombudsmanship, 33 were not pursuable, while the rest are still in the follow-up progress, demonstrating that the CCAC has been putting much effort in handling the complaints or reports, no matter they are identifiable or not. However, without doubt, the CCAC needs citizens' assistance to grasp the information necessary for commencement of investigation and thus seeks to solve their problems as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the CCAC has reviewed the effectiveness of the "Integrity Management Plan – Protocol of Collaboration" signed with other public departments and entities in the past and found that many of them have already established and implemented mechanisms to enhance integrity awareness in accordance with the protocol.

Although certain public departments are still complying with the duty of notification regarding disciplinary procedure as prescribed in the protocol, in view of constant social development, it is necessary to review whether the relevant work procedures of public departments are still up-to-date. With reference to the experiences of other countries and neighbouring regions and taking into account the real needs at local level, the CCAC reviewed the contents of the protocol and considered if it is necessary to initiate new types of cooperation with various public departments in order to promote establishment and perfection of the systems and rules provided for in the "Integrity Management Plan – Protocol of Collaboration" by the public departments or entities, especially those in the area of public procurement, where prevention mechanisms regarding identification and quantification of risks and solutions should be established. The CCAC is even considering studying the feasibility and practicability of establishing an information platform. However, due to the impact of the pandemic, the CCAC was not able to visit and exchange ideas with the public departments which had signed the protocol. As a result, the progress of the work was slower than expected.

As the CCAC has been doing its works in collaboration with various public departments at different levels, there has been no significant obstacles in the investigations conducted by the CCAC. However, the CCAC has noticed that some public departments still neither faced up to nor solved the problems in a pragmatic way even though there were legislations that they could apply. Without doubt, the CCAC will still consider the feasibility of cross-departmental cooperation under the pandemic and will analyse every case and make decisions in a down-to-earth manner.

(3)	The anti-corruption work

In 2020, the CCAC performed the duties to "fight corruption with all efforts and establish the respective mechanisms". Up to 30^th September, a total of 73 reports and complaints related to matters in the area of anti-corruption were received. A majority of the case cracked down involved document forgery related to applications for investment residency and fraud over subsidies granted by the Government. In order to ensure reasonable use of the Macao SAR Government's resources, the CCAC reinforced its efforts in the investigation of crimes involving various types of fraud over government subsidies and financial aids within its scope of competence. Doing so would benefit citizens from the aiding measures and facilitate the Government's supervision on public assets.

 

Regarding the reporting of and the competence to follow up disciplinary procedures, the CCAC applied the mechanism of retrospective review in the aspect of corruption fighting to the cases investigated by checking with the relevant departments about the progress and results of the disciplinary procedures against the public servants suspected of committing disciplinary offences, aiming at urging the departments to face up to and effectively follow up the problems which might exist, accept rational opinions and act accordingly in response to society's demand for continuous supervision and promotion of integrity building of the Macao SAR.

(4)	External cooperation and exchange

Despite the worldwide impact of the pandemic, the CCAC still implemented the policy of "internal communication and external links". Under the policy, the CCAC maintained good communication with other countries and regions, actively strengthened the connection with the experts from the working group for the review of implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption through online platforms and dispatched representatives to participate in video meetings in order to commence various projects. In addition, the CCAC also maintained close contact with the National Supervisory Commission and the prosecuting agencies of various provinces and cities of the Chinese mainland so that mutual visits would be carried out as soon as the pandemic situation subsides. On the other hand, the CCAC never neglects exchange at local level. In the latter half of 2020, the CCAC visited the Chinese Educators Association of Macau, Association of Catholic Schools of Macao and various universities, colleges and schools in order to exchange views and ideas of integrity education.

2. Optimising the organisation, operation and staffing

In line with the Macao SAR Government's policy to develop electronic government services and transform Macao into a smart city, in early 2020, the CCAC decided to develop a standardised internal document and case management system in order to build up a complete internal database and enable external exchange of data with other public departments in a timely manner and appropriate quantity. Following one-year efforts, the CCAC has successfully integrated some functions of the information system and provided its personnel with training on the operation of the system in several stages, gradually realising the long-term plan of overall informatisation of data.

In June 2020, the CCAC commenced an open recruitment of 15 investigators in order to ease the manpower shortage since the current number of investigators is less than 75% of the legal limit of its investigative staff. By strengthening the investigative power, the CCAC will better cope with the works with increasing load, especially the tasks related to the Legislative Assembly Elections to be performed in 2021.

For the recruitment process, the CCAC, for the first time, used the identifying function provided by the online platform "My Government Account of Macao SAR", through which applicants might register for the recruitment and submit documents online. Among more than 5,000 applicants, over 70% chose to register through electronic means. At the same time, the electronic technologies of smart governance were used to automatically screen out whether there was relationship between the members of the jury panel and any of the applicants which should be subject to the recusal system applied to public servants, thus the principle of impartiality was realised through technology.

In the latter half of 2020, in order to review and study its organisational and operational regime, the CCAC formed a leading and technical group to conduct the review of the rooms for amendment to the Organic Law of the Commission Against Corruption of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Organisation and Operation of the Service of the Commission Against Corruption.

To sum up, the CCAC has generally achieved the objectives set up in the policies for the year 2020. Under the epidemic prevention measures adopted by the Macao SAR Government, the CCAC spared no efforts to promote various actions of education of integrity awareness originally planned and expected to run on a long-term basis, administrative supervision activities and amendment to internal laws and regulations by making use of technologies and the internet. Frankly speaking, under the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, it was difficult to carry out the all promotion and exchange activities in cooperation with various associations, schools and public departments as planned. In addition, since the public departments were busy coping with the urgent needs caused by the pandemic, the commencement of the retrospective review mechanism which required the relevant departments' collaboration, the review of the "Integrity Management Plan – Protocol of Collaboration" and the promotion of cross-departmental cooperation were affected to a certain degree.

Part II

Policy Address for 2021

The year 2021 will mark the 7^th Elections for the Legislative Assembly Members, so safeguarding the integrity of the elections will be a top priority for the CCAC in the year. Therefore, the CCAC will, through multi-pronged approach, be dedicated to the prevention and fight against electoral bribery and crackdown the related illegal activities. It will also continue to carry out the promotional plan entitled "All for Integrity" in order to support the promotion for clean elections in a comprehensive manner. The CCAC will also strengthen personnel training. In response to the popularisation of the use of electronic network for electioneering during the elections, it will strive to improve the knowledge of technology and information of its investigators so as to cope with the new types of corruption-related crimes.

In view of the planning for development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Macao's position as "one centre, one platform and one base", the CCAC will strive to develop communication channels in the aspect of corruption fighting with the brother cities in the Greater Bay Area. It will continue to strengthen communication and exchange of views among the law enforcement departments in the Greater Bay Area and deepen inter-district cooperation in the fight against corruption. By taking reference from the valuable law enforcement experience in different regions and improving its own operation, the CCAC strives to play a part in promoting integrity building and creating a probity culture in the Greater Bay Area.

It will, as always, attach great importance to the prevention and suppression of corruption crime in the private sector, so as to promote a sustainable development of the business environment that has weakened after the pandemic. The CCAC will also continue to focus on integrity education in its integrity building work by encouraging residents to actively report corruption and uphold a probity culture together with the CCAC and all walks of life in Macao.

1. Publicity, education and community relations

In 2021, the CCAC will continue to promote integrity education among the public based on the following concepts:

• To carry out integrity promotion and education according to the different groups and ages so as to instill the awareness of integrity into the mind of all residents in Macao.
• To continue to cooperate with different groups, academia and government departments to promote integrity through different community networks so as to encourage residents to be more involved in integrity building.
• To carry out integrity promotion with more use of multimedia to make it easier for the public to obtain information about integrity.

Based on the work carried out in 2020, the CCAC will, in 2021, continue to carry out massive promotion in a positive and encouraging manner. It will actively invest resources to encourage the general public to uphold clean elections. The details of the respective plans are as follows:

(1)	Implementation of the long-term and medium-term plans in an orderly manner

1. All for integrity: Edition for Voters

"All for Integrity" is a long-term promotional plan formulated by the CCAC in 2020. As the 7^th Elections for the Legislative Assembly Members will be held in 2021, ensuring clean elections will be a top priority in the year. Voters and to-be-voters will be the targets of the promotional plan "All for Integrity" in the year. The CCAC will carry out all-around promotions on clean elections in order to ensure that voters and Macao residents understand that clean elections are of great significance to the future of Macao. It will call on voters to support clean elections by being law-abiding and voting with conscience for the wise and competent people.

2. Encouraging complaints lodged in person and under real names

The CCAC will, through different channels, including advertisements, video clips and WeChat infographics, continue to strengthen the promotion and encourage citizens to file complaints in person and under their real names, which aims to increase residents' confidence in the CCAC's confidentiality system. The importance of lodging identifiable complaints or reports on the CCAC's investigation into corruption crime and administrative illegality will also be underlined. It will make residents understand that lodging complaints or reports in person and giving their contact information will not cause their identity to be exposed but will facilitate the CCAC's follow-up work and increase the efficiency of solving problems, which will effectively help alleviate the grievance of residents.

(2)	Implementation of short-term plans in conjunction with the annual integrity awareness education

1. Focusing on promoting clean elections and encouraging residents to cast a conscientious vote

To widely promote the message of clean elections, the CCAC will, through newspaper advertisements and columns, outdoor advertisements at public places, city advertising boards, bus advertisements, various types of publications, printed matters and propaganda materials and talks, spread the message of upholding clean elections and saying no to bribery in elections to each corner of society. It will also make good use of the internet and social media to convey the relevant messages to the targets directly, which aims to remind residents of things they need to pay attention to during the elections, being law-abiding and avoiding bribery traps.

Integrity Volunteer Team plays an important part in the CCAC's promotional work. In 2020, the CCAC recruited new team members and also established its first parent-child volunteer team. In 2021, the CCAC will unite the strengths of the new and old volunteers and engage them in each promotional activity for clean elections, so that the messages of clean elections can be spread among families, campuses and communities through the volunteers' networks.

2. Reaching out to the community to promote honesty and integrity

In order to strengthen communication with the community, the CCAC will take advantage of the long establishment of its branch offices in the community and co-organise the educational drama entitled "Growing with Integrity" with different civic associations. It strives to, through direct dialogue with residents, deepen their understanding of the fight against corruption and nourish a social atmosphere that values integrity.

3. Promoting integrity education for secondary and primary school students in schools with online resources

The CCAC will continue to promote integrity education for secondary and primary school students in schools through activities including talks and the Integrity Week, so as to help them develop correct moral values from an early age. It will also update the teaching plans and moral education materials in the "Integrity Education Resources Database" in a timely manner so that teachers may use them conveniently.

4. Forming an advisory group and listening to the views of the academia

In order to ensure that the integrity teaching materials prepared by the CCAC can better cater to students' mental development and the teaching needs of school teachers, the CCAC will invite representatives of the education sector to form an "advisory group on teaching materials for integrity education" who may provide professional opinions on the content of the teaching plans, which aims to further enhance their practicability and recognition.

5. Mobilising youth ambassadors and encouraging the spreading of messages of integrity among peers

In September 2020, the beginning of a new academic year, the CCAC organised the "Dissemination of Integrity in Schools" recruitment of teenage ambassadors of honesty and integrity in practice project in schools, which aims to recruit Form 3 to Form 6 students as "teenage ambassadors of honesty and integrity". After training these young ambassadors will start integrity promotion activities in schools starting from 2021. They will spread the message of integrity and honesty to peers at schools through the activities planned by the students themselves.

6. More use of multimedia for promotion with direct and easily understandable messages

To cater to the habit of receiving information through new media by the general public, the CCAC will invest more resources in new media promotion. It will also spread the message of integrity to the public and raise their law-abiding and integrity awareness through concise and interesting approaches, such as infographics, animations and comic stories.

2. Anti-corruption work

In 2021, the CCAC will, as it always does, shoulder the important mission of fighting corruption, seeking to contribute to integrity building of Macao:

(1)	Safeguarding the fairness and integrity of the elections for Legislative Assembly members

The year 2021 will mark the 7^th Elections for Legislative Members of Macao. In order to better perform the function of monitoring the elections vested by law and to ensure the integrity and fairness of the elections, the CCAC will be fully dedicated to the fight against electoral bribery by, in addition to performing the relevant promotion work, adopting multi-pronged approach, which includes gathering intelligence, carrying out inspection and supervision and cracking down the relevant offences rigorously. It will display flexibility and take specific measures when necessary.

The CCAC will form a group to fight against electoral bribery and will also launch an online platform and a hotline for receiving complaints. It aims to gather intelligence quickly so that it may carry out analyses and take countermeasures. It also aims to carry out specific planning to promote the message of fighting and preventing electoral bribery. When it comes to high-risk establishments, such as premises or restaurants where electioneering activities are carried out, the CCAC will conduct open inspection and supervision, so as to prevent possible electoral bribery crimes.

In conclusion, the CCAC will treat all the clues on illegal activities related to elections equally and look into each of them impartially and rigorously.

(2)	Attaching the same importance to anti-corruption work targeting the public and private sectors

The CCAC will continue to actively complement the SAR Government's governance philosophy by strictly investigating and handling the corruption crimes in public departments. It will carry out investigations in all the cases regardless of their severity and hold each offender accountable. It will also attach great importance to the prevention and crackdown of corruption cases in the private sector so as to promote healthy and sustainable development of the business environment that has weakened after the pandemic.

(3)	Rigorously investigating and handling illegal acts according to the law to ensure the reasonable use of public money

With the improvement of the pandemic situation, in addition to the provision of the existing subsidies, the SAR Government has been actively carrying out economic relief measures in order to ride out the present difficulties with the public and to support a steady recovery of the Macao society. The CCAC will, within its scope of functions and powers, continue to investigate and handle various types of crime involving the defrauding of government subsidies and funds. It will rigorously investigate the acts of defrauding public money so as to ensure the proper use of it.

(4)	Strengthening staff training and raising the law enforcement level

In 2021, the CCAC will strengthen personnel training, which includes the induction training for new investigators recruited in 2020 and that for its existing investigators for updating their knowledge. The training content covers such areas as law, investigation methods, electronic forensics and financial analysis. With the popularisation of the use of electronic network for electioneering during the elections, it is necessary to improve the knowledge of technology and information of its investigators so as to cope with the new types of corruption-related crimes.

(5)	Strengthening inter-departmental cooperation in the area of asset declaration

Based on the opinions exchanged with the Secretariat for the Court of Final Appeal in 2020, the CCAC plans to enter into cooperation agreements with the other depositary entity of declarations of assets and interests and jointly develop a platform for sharing information related to the declaration for assets and interests. It also aims to simplify the procedures for the transportation of information and to standardise the data related to the declaration for assets and interests taken care of by the two depository entities.

3. Ombudsman activities

The CCAC will actively carry out the following ombudsman activities:

(1)	Raising the awareness of lodging identifiable complaints

The CCAC will continue to, through different promotion approaches, encourage residents to lodge identifiable complaints. It aims to ensure that residents will provide as much concrete information as possible and understand that lodging complaints under real names does not mean that disclosure of the identities of the complainants or informers will be inevitable. The CCAC has its own internal mechanisms to handle the information of the complainants or informers with caution. If the complainant or informer clearly express his unwillingness to reveal his identity in the subsequent procedures, his identifiable information will only serve the purpose of assisting the CCAC in gathering necessary information and communication.

The objective of encouraging residents to lodge complaints and reports under their real names is to focus the resources on effectively handling cases that are pursuable or with signs of illegality so that it may effectively handle each case, take prompt measures, respond to residents' aspirations in a timely manner and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. It also aims to prevent or reduce the chances of not being able to carry out investigation and having to archive the anonymous complaints due to their lack of information and substance.

The relevant promotion work will cover all walks of life so that the society may have a correct understanding of the meaningfulness of lodging identifiable complaints, which may obtain the support from the public departments (public servants) as well as individuals and groups in society (including civic societies, non-governmental organisations and community-based groups). This will make the work concerning the fight against corruption and the promotion of administrative legality more successful.

The CCAC understands the fear of residents about lodging identifiable complaints. However, the CCAC has, up to this moment, never received any records concerning disciplinary action or "reprisal" arising from lodging identifiable complaints or reports. The CCAC will effectively establish the relevant database and present any relevant reports to the society in a timely manner. It aims to let the public understand the objective situation and avoid speculation. It will also enhance promotion to dispel public worries.

(2)	Promoting inter-departmental cooperation

For cases concerning vital public interest or requiring inter-departmental cooperation, in addition to carrying out studies or analyses, the CCAC will, through inquiries or comprehensive investigations, look into and analyse the causes and development of the problems as well as the legality and legitimacy of the relevant administrative procedures. For complaints involving problems of a same nature, the CCAC will follow them up altogether in a comprehensive way, so as to find out the inadequacies of the existing systems and put forward suggestions for improvement.

(3)	Continuously implementing the subsequent inspection system

The CCAC will continue to pay attention to the follow-up work of or improvement made by the government departments or entities that have received its recommendations or suggestions. When finding the relevant situations are not satisfactory, the CCAC will continue to urge the departments to take improvement measures and will provide them with suggestions and methods for solution when necessary.

(4)	Reviewing the implementation of the "Integrity Management Plan – Protocol of Collaboration"

Based on the implementation status of the "Integrity Management Plan – Protocol of Collaboration", the CCAC will study the possibility of establishing regular cooperation mechanisms with public departments, understand their integrity management and anti-corruption measures and put forward timely suggestions for improvement. This aims to increase the transparency and fairness of the Public Administration.

(5)	Reviewing the possibility of cooperation between the anti-corruption area and the auditing area

The CCAC will study the possibility of establishing a cooperative relationship, especially within the scope of supervision of public assets. It will also study the possibility of prior intervention during the audit process carried out by the Commission of Audit.

(6)	Promoting interdepartmental cooperation in the area of ombudsman functions

In response to the problems resulted from the lack of coordination among departments and entities of the SAR Government, regardless of whether there is administrative illegality or impropriety or not, the CCAC will contact the concerned departments and strive to promote the cooperation and communication in the area of ombudsman activities between the relevant departments with an aim to reduce bureaucracy and address residents' pressing needs.

4. External communication and cooperation

In 2021, the CCAC will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with other countries or regions. It will, depending on the development of the pandemic, properly organise more mutual visits and participate in training in order to actively increase the soft power of integrity building.

(1)	Strengthening cooperation and communication with the Chinese mainland

Under the framework of "one centre, one platform and one base" policy of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, in 2021, the CCAC will continue to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with the National Supervision Commission and the law enforcement departments of the Greater Bay Area, take reference from the valuable law enforcement experience in different regions and improve its own operation. It aims to play a part in promoting integrity building.

(2)	Resuming visits and training activities

In order to support the pandemic prevention work of the SAR Government, the CCAC suspended all the visits in 2020. In 2021, the CCAC will resume cooperation and exchanges with the supervision commission of different levels in the Chinese mainland. It will also maintain sound cooperation with the ICAC of Hong Kong and anti-corruption agencies from across the world in such areas as personnel training, intelligence exchange and mutual case assistance.

(3)	Maintaining international liaison

The CCAC will actively participate in international and regional meetings through online platforms so as to strengthen exchange of views with other countries and regions in the areas of anti-corruption work and ombudsman functions. It will also invite specialists and scholars from the Chinese mainland to give lectures in Macao in order to strengthen the professional knowledge of the personnel in different fields and allow them to understand the latest measures and strategies in the fight against corruption of the country. This will help them develop foresight and a macro outlook and allow them to keep abreast of the times.

(4)	Actively supporting the review work of the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption

The CCAC will support the review work of the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption by China. It will actively participate in the video conferences led by specialists of the United Nations and make efforts in coping with the opportunities and challenges with other countries and regions.

5. Optimising the operation and internal management of the CCAC

(1)	Innovation in information platforms

1. To be in line with the development of smart city and e-governance of Macao, the CCAC will, basing on the existing information system, study and develop a standardised internal document and file management system. It will actively participate in the integration and creation of mega databases for the relevant entities dedicated to integrity building. It will also develop an electronic archival system and utilise the storage space of Alibaba Cloud available to the SAR Government to reduce the expenditure on public resources. This will allow it to connect to electronic archival systems of the judiciaries in the future and facilitate the processes of handling cases among departments.
2. To provide greater convenience to residents, the CCAC will launch a new website in 2021. In addition to improvement made to its interface, which allows the public to use and browse it more easily, the website will also add new functions that enable residents to make online appointments to file complaints or reports as well as submit their declarations of assets and interests. This aims to bring convenience to residents and people obliged to make declarations so they may better plan their time and fulfill the civic obligation of lodging identifiable complaints in person and the legal duty of making declarations.

(2)	Giving weight to personnel training

1. Training for new recruits: in the first half of 2021, the CCAC will focus on training the investigators recruited in 2020, which covers such aspects as theories, practice, physical fitness, professional ethics and integrity awareness. This aims to make sufficient preparation for nurturing a new force dedicated to integrity building of Macao and the important mission related to the elections for legislative members in 2021.
2. In-service training: in addition to continuously improving the case handling procedures, internal operation and work flow as well as using information technology to enhance the management of case files and case handling efficiency, the CCAC will also strengthen personnel training in order to improve their professional knowledge, investigative skills and case handling efficiency.

(3)	Continuously reviewing the room for law revision

The leadership and technical group established by the CCAC for the implementation of the policy address for 2020 will, based on the continuous analysis of the Organic Law of the Commission Against Corruption of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Organisation and Operation of the Service of the Commission Against Corruption, review the respective legislation through comparative law and take into account the reality and conditions in a pragmatic way. It will seriously consider the development plans for its organisation structure, competence and functions, investigators' career regime, the forms of their connection with the Public Administration and the regime of salary and benefits. It will draft a bill in hopes that a consensus may be reached with the competent departments as soon as possible, so that the respective legislation may be drafted and revised.
 

"Those who have knowledge and also know how to adapt to change will succeed; those who follow the path of goodness and also keep abreast of the times will progress."

In view of the pandemic, all walks of life in the society need to join hands to overcome, with determination, the challenges that lie ahead. Such mentality also applies to the promotion of integrity building.

In 2021, facing the impact of public health and economic fluctuations, the CCAC will continue to safeguard justice and fight corruption with perseverance and determination. It will perform its functions seriously and will be dedicated to the prevention and suppression of corruption crime and the related fraud crime in the public and private sectors according to the law; it will exercise ombudsman functions to ensure the legality in the exercise of public powers as well as the justice and efficiency of the Public Administration; it will strive to consolidate the society's awareness of preventing and fighting corruption through promotion and education, so that the public will act with caution and refuse to tolerate any act of corruption. It also aims to effectively implement its three-pronged approach and the direction that encompasses education, prevention and suppression – all in a bid to contribute to the integrity building of Macao and recovery of the society after the pandemic.