About ACPE
Advisory Committee on Post-service Employment of Civil Servants
Guidelines on the Mode of Operation
The Committee
The Advisory Committee on Post-service Employment of Civil Servants (ACPE) is an independent advisory committee appointed by the Chief Executive, whose primary task is to advise on applications for post-service outside work from directorate civil servants. Applications are referred by the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) to the ACPE, which tenders advice to the Secretary for the Civil Service, the authority to approve or reject such applications.
Composition
2. The ACPE consists of a Chairman and eight Members. All of them are “lay members” appointed on an ad personam basis. The ACPE considers and advises on applications either through meetings or by circulation of papers. The quorum for an ACPE meeting if convened is two-thirds of the total membership (i.e. six). In case the Chairman is not available to chair a meeting, the chair of the meeting will be taken up by an acting chairman elected by and among the Members present.3. Secretariat support for the ACPE is provided by the Joint Secretariat for the Advisory Bodies on Civil Service and Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service (JSSCS).
Underlying Principles and Policy Objective
4. Applications for post-service outside work from directorate civil servants, serving or retired, are governed by an established control regime1. The regime is underpinned by two principles, namely the protection of the public interest and protection of an individual's right to work. Very broadly put, the particular public interest to be protected is public trust in the Government, good governance, and the integrity and impartiality of the Civil Service. Protection of such a public interest will take precedence over protection of an individual's right to work only where there is a compelling reason justifying so doing in a particular case.1 The control regime currently in force applies to directorate civil servants on pensionable/new permanent terms who cease active duty on or after 1 September 2011, and directorate civil servants on agreement terms who enter into new or renewal agreements on or after 1 September 2011.
5. The policy objective of the control regime is therefore to ensure that -
- directorate civil servants on final leave or former directorate civil servants will not take up work during the prescribed restriction periods which may –
- constitute real or potential conflict of interest with their former government duties, or
- cause well-founded negative public perception embarrassing the Government and undermining the image of the Civil Service, or give rise to reasonable apprehension of deferred reward or benefit by a fair-minded and informed observer after having considered the relevant facts;
- the said individuals' right to work after ceasing government service will not be unduly restricted; and
- the attractiveness of the Civil Service as a career will not be adversely affected and that limited human resources will be put to good use.
Conduct of Business
6. If a serving or retired directorate civil servant, presently subjected to control, desires to engage in a post-service employment, the officer should submit an application to CSB. Upon completing an internal assessment of the application, CSB submits the application together with the written views of the assessment parties within the Government to the Secretariat of the ACPE (i.e. JSSCS). The Secretariat then conducts a further analysis, and sets out its recommendation together with details of any precedent cases in a covering paper. The covering paper is then issued to Members for consideration. The Secretariat will consult the Chairman as to the most appropriate mode for Members to consider the application, i.e. at a meeting or by circulation. Even if the Chairman suggests that the application be considered by circulation, any Member can propose that a meeting be convened instead.Declaration of Conflict of Interests
7. The Chairman and Members are subjected to a set of rules on declaration of interests, commonly known as the“two-tier reporting system”. Under the system, the Chairman and Members are to declare relevant pecuniary and other types of interests, on appointment and annually thereafter. These declared interests are made available for public inspection upon request. The Chairman and Members are also to declare any further interests as soon as they arise, for instance in relation to an application under consideration.8. If a Member has any declarable interest in a matter under consideration (either at a meeting or in a paper being circulated for advice), the Member should disclose it as soon as practicable after the Member becomes aware of it. The Chairman then decides how best the declared interest should be handled. For instance, the Chairman may decide that the declared interest be recorded, and that the Member can stay at the meeting or tender advice on the paper being circulated (as the case may be). If the situation warrants, the Chairman may direct that the Member be excused from attending the meeting, or the Member return the paper and the accompanying materials to the Secretariat. If it is the Chairman who has interests to declare, the Committee itself will determine collectively how the declared interests be handled. In all these situations, the cardinal principle is to maintain public confidence in the integrity of the Chairman and Members, whose advice is (and should be seen to be) disinterested and impartial.
9. Applications within the remit of the ACPE invariably contain personal data and other pieces of sensitive information. The Chairman and Members are under a duty to keep every application confidential.
Assessment Criteria
10. In considering and tendering advice on an application, the ACPE is to have regard to the underlying principles and policy objective described in paragraphs 4 and 5 above, the views of the assessment parties within the Government, as well as the following key considerations –- the duties and responsibilities of the applicant during the applicant's past government service. If the applicant is (or was) ranked between D4 and D8 (or equivalent), the reference period is the six years preceding. The reference period is shortened to three years if the applicant is (or was) more junior, i.e. ranked between D1 and D3 (or equivalent). In exceptional circumstances, the duties and responsibilities in the more distant past may also be taken into account;
- whether the applicant had been involved within the reference period in the formulation of any policy or decisions, the effects of which directly or specifically benefited or could directly or specifically benefit the applicant's own business or the prospective employer;
- whether the applicant or the prospective employer might gain an unfair advantage over competitors because of the applicant's access to sensitive information within the reference period;
- whether the applicant had been involved within the reference period in any contractual or legal dealings to which the prospective employer was a party;
- whether the applied-for work would have any connection with the assignments, projects, or regulatory or enforcement duties (or a combination of such elements) in which the applicant had been involved within the reference period;
- whether the applicant's taking up of the applied-for work would give rise to well-founded public suspicion of conflict of interest or other impropriety;
- whether a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the relevant facts, would conclude that the applied-for work might give rise to reasonable apprehension of deferred reward or benefit; and
- whether any aspects of the applied-for work would cause well-founded negative public perception embarrassing the Government and undermining the image of the Civil Service.
Invitation of Government Officials to ACPE Meetings
11. The ACPE may invite government officials who have participated in the assessment of applications to its meetings to explain or clarify their views.Conditions of Approval
12. To address possible concerns over conflict of interest and any negative public perception, the ACPE invariably recommends imposing various “standard” work restrictions on applications that the ACPE considers are worthy of support. Those standard conditions are –- applicants will not directly or indirectly be involved in the bidding for any government land, property, projects, contracts or franchises;
- they will not directly or indirectly undertake or represent any person in any work including any litigation or lobbying activities that are connected in any way with the formulation of any policy or decisions, sensitive information, contractual or legal dealings, assignments or projects, and enforcement or regulatory duties in which they had been involved or to which they had access during their last three years of service;
- they will not directly or indirectly engage in any activities which will cause embarrassment to the Government or bring disgrace to the Civil Service; and
- they will not use or disclose any classified or sensitive information acquired while they were in government service in the course of their appointment with the prospective employer.
Advice Tendered
14. The advice tendered by the ACPE on applications that are eventually approved by the Secretary for the Civil Service (and the subject applied-for work actually taken up by the applicant) is made known to the public by way of being posted up in the on-line public register maintained by CSB.Annual Reports
15. On behalf of the ACPE, the Chairman submits a report on the Committee's work to the Chief Executive annually. The annual reports are tabled in the Legislative Council (LegCo) by CSB and deposited in the LegCo library. All annual reports are available for browsing on JSSCS’website.Advisory Committee on Post-service Employment of Civil Servants
June 2025