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3. A Chief Justice needed to be a good judge and at least a sound lawyer; a man of commonsense..and good judgment; with at least adequate powers of administration; on satisfactory terms with his colleagues and the possessor of such personal qualities that he was respected by both the profession and the public, In all these respects Sir Ivc Rigby had been criticised, In law he
concentrated on the criminal side and showed less interest in
civil law. The balance of his judgment had been called into
question and his powers of administration criticised. His relations with some colleagues had been uneven and it was doubtful whether the profession really respected him. On the other hand the reports
on Mr. Blair-Kerr were consistently very good. In Sir James McPetric's view, Mr. Blair-Kerr was undoubtedly on merit the
better choice; but he accepted that other considerations of the
public interest had to be taken into account in reaching a decision as, for example, public reaction in Hong Kong and the impact of the appointment on the judiciary and the legal profession.
4.
Views expressed by Sir Hugh Norman-Walker in a telegram (No.881) received shortly before the meeting were considered.
It was decided to ask Sir Hugh Norman-Walker to elaborate his assessment that "disruption to the Judiciary" would be caused by any appointment other than Sir Ivo Rigby's.
5. There was also discussion about the possible creation of the additional senior post of Judge of Appeal. The Governor explained that the present Chief Justice considered there would be advantage in having one Judge of Appeal (on the lines of the system adopted in Zambia) since a complete Bench or whole-time appellate judges would not be justified. The Governor did not wish to hasten consideration of this matter. The new Chief Justice might not wish to be saddled with an idea of his predecessor's.
6. At a subsequent meeting Sir Hugh Norman-Walker's further assessment (Hong Kong telegrams Nos.884 and 885) was considered. It was evidently his opinion that disruption would result in the Supreme Court and Sir Leslie Menson was inclined to think that adverse reaction could be expected in other than judicial quarters.
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