HONG KONG BAR ASSOCIATION
4.
3.
The second matter I discussed with you was the question of the present policy of entrusting the prosecution of criminal cases to full time civil servants. (except for occasional prosecutions by barristers in private practice). Sir James McPetrie said that the Attorney General had informed him that the number of prosecutions for the Crown undertaken by members of the practising Bar averaged about two a month. This, in the Bar's opinion, is a very unsatisfactory state of affairs, although you were of the view that this was a matter which ought to be taken up with the local authorities and with the Attorney General in particular.
There appear to be signs that it is intended to increase the numbers in the Legal Department which has, even now, far more Crown Counsel than there are active members at the practising Bar. In the last few years there has been a steady increase in the number of Crown Counsel who are not qualified under the Legal Practitioners Ordinance as they are barristers and/or solicitors from Commonwealth countries other than the United Kingdom. This appears to be reflected in draft legislation, much of which is taken from legislation in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Zambia, Tanganyika, Kenya, etc. The Bar is Í unable to appreciate why English law is so apparently inadequate that we have to draw "copiously" from the legislation of countries other than the United Kingdom.
#
I say in
4. The next matter we discussed was the present system of interchangeability between the Legal Department and the Judiciary. I conceded that, in principle, I could see no objection to a member of the Legal Department being appointed to the Judiciary provided that this was done purely on merit and in exceptional cases. exceptional cases because the Bar feels that the appointment of a person who is on the pensionable establishment to the bench deprives a member of the local Bar from achieving pensionable status. On the other hand it is no real hardship to the member of the Legal Department concerned as he is already invariably on the pensionable establishment. The stock answer might be that if such "promotion" from the Legal Department were to be stopped, recruitment to the Legal Department would be more difficult. I repeat that similar considerations apply to recruitment to the practising Bar.