NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
(bat
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the
(b) The "Ward" system of Urban Council
this system
Under
whereby
'members of the Council set
aside specified periods during which they
receive complaints from members of the public.
(c) The City District Officer scheme t
This has been in operation since the
beginning of 1968. A description of thes which was in Kinduced
and the i scheme was given by Mr. Whitlock in reply
My
to a Question by Mr. Roy in the House of Commons on 12th March, 1968. The scheme
has proved most popular and is providing
a useful avenue for the ventilation of
grievances.
Constitutional difficulties.
The institution of Ombudsman might
provide a worthwhile independent check on
executive actions under the system of Crown
Colony Government in force in Hong Kong,
the Colony
Cposition
(Routional peculiarities would
but the constitutional ped
کامیامد
vee te difficulties.
1968
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 to the Secretary of State and 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.
This and other problems require very careful
examination both here and in Hong Kong.
Present Policy.
7. The whole matter was discussed by Lord
Shepherd with the Governor during the Minister's
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