Inclawly
Attached
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Mr CLEWIS
MR LAIRD
LAI
白
Reference
with (53
MPS LETTER: APPOINTMENTS FROM BAR TO BENCH
John Tilney, MP has written to Mr Royle, enclosing a
letter from a distant relation of his in Hong Kong, Henry Litton, QC, who is asking for clarification on our policy regarding appointments to the Bench from the Hong Kong Bar,
and seeking support from the Hong Kong Parliamentary Group. 2. As you know for some years now, the Hong Kong Bar Association, headed by Gerald de Basto, have been campaigning vigourously for the Bench to be fully opened to members of the Bar, instead of exclusively members of the Government Legal Service, as at present. (See his letter of 7nMay,1970) 3. In reply to Mr de Basto's letter, we went no further than saying :
14.
'..the Secretary of State cannot give any undertaking as to how future vacancies on the Supreme Court Bench will be filled, but that the views of the Hong Kong Bar Association will be kept in mind.' (Letter of 4 Nov 1970
However, at the same time it was suggested to the
Governor that :
even where there was a Service Candidate suitable for
promotion to the ..Bench it might ocasionally be
desirable to advance someone from the HK Bar who had had extensive experience of private practice. Such appointments would be 'exceptional', and to avoid alarming the Legal Service about diminished prospects of promotion, would preferably only take place when there were two or more vacancies to be filled, the other(s) being filled from the Service in the normal way. (4 November 1970) 15. In March the Governor accepted this proposal,but
suggested issuing a Circular to inform the Legal Service of the change in policy, Mr Laird wrote to dter a course of
action which would alarm members of the Service unnecessaril
& probably provoke strong adverse reaction. Instead, he
suggested that informal reassurances could be made to the Service when such a n excepţional promotion re made. However, we have still had no reply from Hong Kong. (7 July 71); 16. In view of this situation, I suggest that Mr Royle
send a short reply to Mr Tilney on the lines of the
attached draft. It would not be wise to let on to the
fe
Bar that possibly, even when there re a suitable candidate in the Legal Service, a member of the Bar might be promoted in exceptional circumstances, as this news would leak out to the Legal Service, and cause as much trouble as the
/...Circular
DD 737719 557664 500M 2/71 GM 3643/2