Lawmakers Call For Review Of EOC's Operations

The Legislative Council’s constitutional affairs panel on Wednesday passed a non-binding motion calling for an independent inquiry into the administration of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC).

Several members raised concerns about how very few of the hundreds of complaints the watchdog receives ever get to court, even though EOC chairman Alfred Chan said many cases are solved by arbitration.

The Labour Party’s Fernando Cheung said “quite a bit of resources” had been put into legal services, and the inquiry should look at how they have been used.

Lawmakers also questioned the hiring of a former Department of Health official, John Leung, to lead a review of the EOC's operations, even though he had no experience of anti-discrimination work.

Chan admitted he knew Leung personally, but said Leung was hired through open recruitment and that he did not take part in the recruitment process himself.