16
?
HKK 14/25
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
3rd September, 1969.
You wrote to me on the 18th July about the problem of the succession to Hogan as Chief Justice when he goes at the end of the
year.
2. You asked me in particular whether I could give you any indication as to the possibility of finding a suitable candidate from among the members of the Service elsewhere before you decided what recommendation to make.
3. We nave gone very thoroughly into this but we are all satisfied that there is no suitable candidate available for your Chief Justice- ship elsewhere overseas (including the East African Court of Appeal). We have of course looked particularly at Hammett whom you mentioned by name. The work before the courts in Fiji is not so substantial or important as in Hong Kong and Hammett consequently has had nothing like the judicial experience which your two local candidates have had on the Bench. This, apart from his reports which also would have to be taken into account, rules him in our view effectively out of
consideration for the Chief Justiceship in Hong Kong.
4. This, I fear, leaves you with the embarrassing necessity of deciding between the claims of Rigby and Blair-Kerr. We fully realize
the difficulties involved in this and have wondered whether it might
be better not to make any formal recommendation now but to leave this until nearer the time of Hogan's departure. It is always possible, I suppose, that circumstances might change before the end of the year and you might wish to withdraw a recommendation put forward now. But this would not prevent us - quite the contrary - from reaching agreement informally with you as to which of the two candidates you would be recommending, provided circumstances did not change. To carry this forward we would hope that you could give me a more detailed appraisal of the two local candidates than you (understandably) felt it appropriate to attempt in your letter under reference.
Sir David Trench, GCMG., MC.
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
AST
17 C
110,
(20)
5.