Reference........ HWB 14/61.
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Mr. Carter
I mentioned to you this morning that Mr. de Basto, Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, had written again to Lord Shepherd about the matters which he discussed with the Minister of State on 9th August. You wished to consider urgently whether this was a question which should be put down on the agenda for discussion with the Governor during his forthcoming visit.
As I say, Mr. de Basto saw Lord Shepherd on 9th August to discuss questions which he had put in the letter at (2) on this file. There is a note of the meeting at (8) and a copy of that note was sent by Mr. Mason to the Colonial Secretary under cover of the letter at (9).
Mr. de Basto's latest letter is at (10). He asks for a reply before 1st November when he says that his annual report to the Bar will have to be ready for the printers because, no doubt, he wishes to give publicity to what he calls "the areas of agree- ment" between himself and the Minister. It is worth noting from the record of the meeting on 9th August that the annual statement of the Chairman is now expected to contain a critical review of the administration of justice in the colony. In my view it would be most improper if Mr. de Basto were to use this occasion to make public any of the matters he discussed with the Minister, and in any reply to his letter I think that this point should have first place.
I now compare the note of the meeting taken here with the version of what happened which comes out in Mr. de Basto's letter:
(a)
Appointment of Practising Barristers from the Hong Kong Bar to the Bench or the Supreme Court
The record shows that the Minister agreed that it might be possible to devise an administrative arrangement whereby the Bar Association could put to the Governor or the Chief Justice the names of those members of the Bar who might wish to be considered for appointment to the Supreme Court. Sir James McPetrie thought that any such consultations would need to be ad hoc on each occasion and conducted informally and personally.
At first in his letter what de Basto says agrees substantially with the record, but he then takes the point very much further and says that he thinks that Lord Shepherd agreed that the Governor might wish to ascertain from the Bar whether a particular appointment would command their respect. I do not believe that there was any such agreement because, of course, it would amount to referring such appointments to the Bar for approval.
The note records some discussion of the comparative emoluments of a Supreme Court Judge and a member of the Bar, and in his letter de Basto refers to the problem
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