Mr Roderick MacFarquhar MP House of Commons LONDON SW1
HKIS 382/2
RECEIVED IN RES
D-
INDEX
No
14 DE 8973
DES
14 December 1978
Len
154
We spoke on the telephone about the letter which you have received from four former Hong Kong police officers currently in this country. You said that they had asked to see you.
These officers were among a group of 119 Hong Kong police officers who, earlier this year, were compulsorily retired under Colonial Regulation 55 (CR55), which provides that "an officer holds office subject to the pleasure of the Crown, and the pleasure of the Crown that he may no longer hold it may be signified through the Secretary of State in which case no special formalities are required".
Colonial Regulations in general form part of the Conditions of Service of public servants in all dependent territories. CR 55 has been sparingly used in the past, but it is available for use in appropriate cases. In this particular instance the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary decided that it would be right to use CR 55 in order to terminate without delay the services of a large number of officers whose continued membership of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force would not have been in the public interest. Criminal proceedings might have taken years to bring to a conclusion, and action under disciplinary regulations would also have been very lengthy.
Because this procedure has an arbitrary appearance, very great care was taken to ensure that no officer was retired without reasonable cause. In each case where the Governor of Hong Kong recommedned compulsory retirement, the papers were scrutinized by two FCO officials acting independently and by an FCO Legal Adviser. Where officials concurred with the Governor's recommendation the decision was finally taken by the Foreign Secretary.
Although compulsorily retired, the officers have been treated in exactly the same way as regards housing and pension rights as any other officers retiring from the public service. A11 those who were eligible for pensions are being paid them in full, In addition, those occupying Government quarters have been allowed to remain in them, in some cases for over six months, until suit- able public housing becomes available (a minority were not eligible for public housing because their family income was too
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