junior appointments, So long as we have to maintain a service in Yong Kong, promotion to the Supreme Court Bench must be open to its members and an appointment to the Supreme Court Bench direct from the
local Bar would have to be exceptional. The suggestion that the alternative source of recruitment should be the practising members of the English bar no doubt contains an implied criticism of our Service Judges in Hong Kong. In fact Hong Kong me a good Bench (though one would not claim that it is as good as the High Court Bench in this country) and it seems at least doubtful whether members of the Bar in London who are not good enough to entertein hopes of a judicial appointment here would look at an offer of a Hong Kong appointment, This is a topic that has to be handled delicately for, given a chance, the members of the Hong Kong Bar will accuse us of reserving the best appointments for members of the Service to the detriment of the Bar
ignoring the fact that they themselves are asking that those appointments
should be reserved for the Bar to the detriment of the 3ervice. 3. (11)
The present policy of entrusting the prosecution of criminal cases to full-time civil servants (except for occasional prosecutions by barristers in private practice) should be discontinued and all criminal prosecutions, other than those by police officers should be conducted by members of the practising Bar of Hong Kong.
This matter was also amongst those raised by the association in 1963. The only reason then advanced for the proposal was that it "is not conducive to the proper administration of the criminal law that barristers in private practice should only defend and professional servants only prosecute" in criminal cases. Mr. de Basto has adduced no additional argument in support of this proposal. A aystem of
briefing Counsel in private practice to prosecute for the Crown has already been instituted and the Attorney-General, Hong Kong, already gives two or three prosecution briefs per month to private
practitioners. It is thought that the underlying motive for this
proposal is probably an attempt to secure more buɛiness for the Bar; but we should leave Mr. de Basto to develop his point. 4. (111) That the present system of interchangeability between members
of the Legal Department and the Judiciary be abolished.
This again was amongst the matters discussed with the Association in Hong Kong in 1964. It is not clear whether the present proposal
refera to permanent transfers as between the Judiciary and the Legal
Department or whether it refers to short-term secondments, If the
/the contention ...