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Sir Basil Hall KCB MC TD
HM Frocurator General and
Treasury Solicitor Matthew Parker Street London SW1
CENCE
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
15 September 1978
HRA 373/393/5
RALIVED NI FORSIRY NO. 51 19 SEP 1978
DESK OFFICER INDEX
REGISTAY
PA
Action Taken
Rear Basil,
ATTORNEY GENERAL: HONG KONG
1.
The post of Attorney General in Hong Kong is likely to become vacant in the spring of next year when the present incumbent, J W D Hobley CMG QC, is due to retire. This is by far the most important Law Officer appointment in our remaining dependent territories and the Governor of Hong Kong is anxious to get a really good man to fill it.
2. There are no obviously suitable candidates in Hong Kong or in any of the other dependent territories and we have therefore been asked to explore the possibility of finding someone from the ome Civil Service. I should be grateful for your advice on how best to do this. One possibility might be to ask the Civil Service Department to conduct a trawl, but the field of people who might be suitable is bound to be very restricted and it occurs to me that You might be able, from your knowledge of Government lawyers, to
ve us some useful pointers.
Hong Kong are looking for someone who is already in a fairly for position, who has considerable all round legal experience, ind is preferably in his late forties or early fifties. I attach
brief note about the job and the terms attaching to it from which you will see that the appointment could be on secondment if that salted the person chosen.
Ideally, we would like to provide Hong Kong with a list of scible candidates who would be interested in serving for a period in Hong Kong and whose Departments would be ready in principle to release them. It would therefore be particularly helpful if you
lt able to conduct some informal soundings on our behalf.
THIS IS A COPY
THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN CLOSED
UNTIL
UNDER FOI
15.
EXEMPTION No. 4.0.
STAFY IN CONFIDENCE