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Flagged B.
of these powers.
These misgivings were conveyed to the Governor
in the Secretary of State's Saving Despatch No. 663 (copy attached).
The Despatch informed the Governor that although notification of
non-disallowance of the Ordinance would not be withheld (notifica-
tion of non-disallowance has in fact already been conveyed to the
Governor), its provisions in certain respects represented a departure
from the fundamental principles inherent in the British system of
justice and that further amending legislation would accordingly be
required to remedy the situation.
Flag (3)
4. This Despatch occasioned a reply from the Governor in the form
of a letter to Sir Arthur Galsworthy (copy attached) in which he
queried the conclusions in the Despatch both on legal and practical
grounds. In Sir Arthur Galsworthy's absence, Mr. Moreton replied
(tag to the Governor in a letter dated 8 May (copy attached) in which
he mentioned that our Legal Advisers were taking advantage of the
presence in London of Sir Michael Hogan, Chief Justice, Hong Kong,
to discuss the matter with the latter.
5.
In the course of these discussions, which duly took place, our
Legal Advisers explained the difficulties with which we were con-
fronted in the matter and the course of action which had been
suggested to the Governor in order to remedy the situation.
These are set out in detail in the Despatch. The Chief Justice
mentioned that he had been consulted over the preparation of the
draft Bill: he appeared to favour our suggestion that as part of
the action which we were now proposing (paragraphs 6 and 7 of the
Despatch), consideration could be given to giving District Judges
and Magistrates wider powers for dealing with contempt (although
not so wide as those of the Supreme Court). But he thought that
our proposal that the provisions of the Ordinance should come into
force only when so ordered by the Governor, after receiving a
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