Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1
68
DT E Roberts Esq CBE QC Colonial Secretary HONG KONG
Telephone 01.
Your reference
Our reference
Date
10KK14/11
23 November 1973
REF
66
RCF
COURT SYSTEM OF HONG KONG
1.
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Mr Berlins, Legal Correspondent of The Times, came to see me and Tony Rushford by appointment on 22 November to discuss an article he is writing on the alleged defects of the court system.
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Apparently some members of the Hong Kong Bar, prosumaly Jackson-Lipkin and Eddis, came to see him a few weeks ago. They sid they had already been to the Foreign Office with representatives of Justice. They told him the same story as we set out in our Saving telegram no. 60 of 28 August and said there were no signs of official action either in London or in Hong Kong. Berlins said they seemed very bitter. His purpose in coming to see us was to get the other side of the story.
3.
We took him through the reasons for the amendmente to. The jurisdiction of the District Courts as you had described them to ur. We also touched on the question of the appointment and terms of service of judges and magistrates which the Hong Kong representatives had evidently covered with him in the same terms as they did with us. said that these questions were very largely for you. We had praded to you the substance of what Lord Gardiner and Jackson-Lipkin had hid to say, and we assumed you would let us know your thoughts in due course. Berlins asked whether he could report that the Foreign Office had proposed changes in the court system to Hong Kong. We gadd net nh all. It was natural for us to inform you when representations had been bade in London. But we had done no more than that.
We said that of course you kept the Hong Kong court dvelen der review, like any other part of the Government machine, éptral administration of Bong Kong had recently been blorqutla berhauled; but we did not know whether any similar review wako i For the courts. Berline expreened himself satisfied and said Th hould now be able to write a balanced article. We shall gen.
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