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still pursuing at official level the possibility of an amendment
which would not be retrospective and so would not affect him. I
am submitting separately on this through Mr Royle to the
Secretary of State.
COLONIAL REGULATIONS AND THE PREVENTION OF BRIBERY ORDINANCE
4. In explanation of our telegram number 1,000, I attach a
summary list of Sir Alastair Blair-Kerr's detailed proposals and
FCO official level comments on them. The most difficult proposal
for us is to widen the provisions of Section 10 of the Ordinance
so that an officer may have to explain away not only property etc
held by himself, but also in the possession of his near
connections (see paragraph 241(d) of the report). Given that we
have agreed to Section 10, it is an obvious loophole in the law
that an officer should be able to avoid prosecution under that
Section by putting the property in the name of his dependents.
But Sir Alastair Blair-Kerr's proposal does increase the burden
of proof on the dependent, and thus the possibility of trouble in
Parliament. We have asked the Governor to suggest a text of this
amendment which we could study.
ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION
5. The other important issue raised by the Report is the
separation of the Anti-Corruption Office from the Police Force.
The Governor intends to announce on 17 October his decision to
set up an independent Anti-Corruption Commission and the
appointments he will be making. The arrangements for the new
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/Commission