HKK 430li
RECEIVED ZT REG.STLY NO
Foreign and Commonwealth OffPEB 1980
London SW1 A 2AH
D L Davies Esq OBE
Treasury Solicitor's Department
Matthew Parker Street
LONDON SW1H 9NN
DESK OFFICER
INDEX Telephone (†
No
PAD
REC Action
Your reference
Our reference
Date
Bu. to
Ms Kitche
3 week's time
AW 15/2
NOVEDAL
14 February 1980
...
Dear Davies
POSITION OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN HONG KONG
See QSA
27A
1 I should be very grateful for your advice in connection with a problem that has arisen over the legal status of public servants in Hong Kong. In a recent letter, the Hong Kong Government have suggested that the present position is unsatisfactory and that there is a need for codification of terms of service with some measure of statutory backing.
2 In fact the present position of the Hong Kong Civil Service appears to be analogous to that of the Diplomatic Service and the Home Civil Service in the United Kingdom.
with 9A
3 I enclose a copy of a legal opinion by a senior Hong Kong Crown Counsel, Mr S P Graham, on the present relationship between the Hong Kong Government and its servants. We see little in this opinion from which we would dissent except that on page 14, line 3, we would question whether the Orders in Council under which Estacode and the Diplomatic Service Regulations were made have ''legislative force''.
4
+
Before deciding what advice we should give to the Hong Kong Government on Mr Graham's conclusions and recommendations, I would find it helpful to have your views on whether the analogous position of the United Kingdom Civil Service has proved generally satisfactory or otherwise. It does not appear to have created any legal difficulties in spite of the absence of statutory regulation (although of course the Civil Service is subject to certain general enactments such as the Official Secrets Acts and the Industrial Relations legislation). We are not convinced that Hong Kong (or the other remaining dependent territories, where the position is similar) are in a worse position. We do not of course wish to trouble you with the purely local aspects of the enclosed opinion. You may, however, like t have a copy of the Hong Kong Letters Patent (Article XVI refers) and Part I of Colonial Regulations (see in particular Appendix II).
Jour
ever
Arch Crip
R D Clift
Hong Kong & General Department
cc: S R Davie, PM5 Dept, CSD
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