Members of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) met on 15 December 2011 (Thursday) at the 93rd EOC Meeting and discussed various matters related to the Commission’s business.

Members discussed the service improvement measures for enhancing efficiency of case handling and clients’ satisfaction. Impartiality in case handling remained to be the EOC’s guiding principle, with due consideration given to the general power imbalance between the complainants and respondents, and the need to provide redress for the genuinely aggrieved. Coupled with tighter control over case management, the investigation process would be streamlined to reduce the handling time by gathering adequate rather than full information for recommendation for conciliation or discontinuance of investigation. Early conciliation, which was dealt with through a more informal and flexible process, would be attempted as a matter of course in all cases as far as practicable.

EOC Members were pleased to note that the Commission had won the Directors of the Year Award 2011 from the Hong Kong Institute of Directors in recognition of its excellence in corporate governance and professionalism of its Board of Directors. Members pledged that the EOC would strive harder to advance equal opportunities at all levels through working closely with all our partners and stakeholders.

Members also noted that the number of complaints handled remained stable, with no major shift in the nature of complaints. Compared to the other categories of discrimination complaints, those under the Race Discrimination Ordinance continued to be more diversified, with about 75% being non-employment related cases. (Please refer to Complaint Statistics)

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Media enquiries: Ms. Mariana LAW (Tel : 2106-2226)

Equal Opportunities Commission
15 December 2011