CONFIDENTIAL
BACKGROUND NOTE
House of Lords Parliamentary Question
tabled for oral reply by the Minister
of State on Tuesday 24 March.
Lord Beaumont's interest in this subject most probably
arises from his previous associations with Hong Kong, where
from 1955 to 1959 he served first as Assistant Chaplain at St. John's Cathedral and subsequently as Vicar of Kowloon
Tong.
2. Since 1965 there has been local discussion in Hong Kong
about the appointment of an Ombudsman or his equivalent and this
has attracted the attention of the Hong Kong branch of the
British Section of the International Committee of Jurists. Following a visit to Hong Kong in June 1969, Lord Shepherd in December 1969 informed the Secretary of the British Section of the Committee in London that he had had very thorough discussions on this matter with the Governor of Hong Kong and his advisers. There were very real difficulties about importing the Ombudsman concept into Hong Kong and doubts were expressed about the extent to which such an appointment would be effective. was the general view in Hong Kong, and one which was shared by the Minister of State, that steps should first be taken to strengthen the machinery which already exists for enabling the people of Hong Kong to make known their views and grievances to the authorities. To this end it was decided to appoint (in
addition to the City District Officers, whose appointments were
It
CONFIDENTIAL
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