Constitutional Difficulties.
3. The institution of Ombudsman or Parliamentary Commission
might provide a worthwhile independent check on executive actions
under the system of Crown Colony Government as in force in Hong
Kong; but the constitutional peculiarities would give rise to
difficulties. One such difficulty is the question of to whom the
Ombudsman should report. Sovereign power does not rest with the
Colonial legislature, which in Crown Colony Government is neither
fully representative nor responsible.
It rests in the Colony
with the Governor and through him and the Secretary of State
ultimately with the United Kingdom Parliament. The non-
representative nature of the local legislature raises another
difficulty that of devising an adequate sifting procedure before
complaints are referred to the Ombudsman,
These and other
problems require very careful examination, both here and in Hong
Kong.
Established Machinery
4. In the absence of any elected representation in the Central
Councils of Government, the Hong Kong Government are well aware
of the importance of providing ways and means of enabling the
people of Hong Kong to make known their views on the administration
of the Colony's affairs. In addition to the traditional arrange-
ments which exist in any dependent territory for dealing with grievances and complaints from members of the public (e.g. the
standard system of Questions in the Legislative Council; petitions
to the Governor and to the Secretary of State; letters or oral
complaints to the Colonial Secretary, to the Secretariat for
Chinese Affairs, and to heads of Government Departments) the
following machinery has been in existence for some time: -
(1) the "U.M.E.L.C.O"