This came as its task force on law review proposed about 50 legislative amendments following the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire. It covered bid-rigging, tender specifications, declaration of interests, as well as project safety and risks.
Jose-Antonio Maurellet, chairman of the association, expressed support of criminalising bid-rigging in parallel to the existing civil regime.
“The existence of the dual-track system, of course, does not mean that civil and criminal proceedings would be taken forward at the same time for the same case – this would contravene the principle against double jeopardy,” he said.
“The enforcement authorities concerned will therefore need to coordinate with one another and to decide whether a case is to be dealt with by civil enforcement or by criminal prosecution.”
He went on to say that under the new criminal offence, the elements of crime, such as the definition of bid-rigging and the burden of proof, must be clearly defined.
The association also proposed to amend the Building Management Ordinance, saying if a project exceeds a certain value, tenders must be submitted in “two envelopes” – one for the technical proposal and the other for price.
The price proposal may only be opened after the technical proposal has met a minimum score specified in the evaluation to encourage a focus on quality, it said.
