14
15
16
62
F. THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE MEETING14
42. On 16 August 1979, Mr. Henry raised with Sir Jack Cater the Chief Secretary, the question of manpower and priorities for the SIU. The Chief Secretary advised that Henry should formally seek a policy decision from the Governor. On 20 August 1979, acting under Section 4 of the Police Force Ordinance13, Henry (on the Chief Secretary's advice) wrote a letter to the Governor asking for policy guidance and for increased manpower in respect of police action on homosexuality. The letter also asked the Governor for guidance on leads. Attached to the letter was the resume of Ross' report.
43. As a result, a meeting at Government House was called on 28 August 1979. At the meeting were the Governor, Sir Jack Cater (the Chief Secretary) Mr. John Griffiths, Q.C. (the Attorney General), Mr. Henry (the Commissioner of Police), Mr. Moor (the Deputy Commissioner of Police), Mr. Clancy (the Director of Criminal Investigation) and Chief Superintendent Thorpe. No notes were taken at the meeting. A draft guideline for the police was read out at the meeting and everyone present appeared to be in agreement. The Governor and the Attorney General had prepared the guideline for the police. The Attorney General had shown the DPP a draft. It was purely for the guidance of the Police and not for the guidance of the Legal Department. Though the Attorney General eventually signed the guideline (later known as "the Charter"), it was in fact the Governor who made the directions. This was a new development and a new area of interest for the police arising out of the Duffy case. For the first time express direction was laid down that particular attention should be given to criminal offences committed by persons concerned in law enforcement and other sensitive areas of that kind. It was the first time that any list of priorities had been drawn. That was the first time that anybody in the police had had that direction indicated to them. It was therefore a new emphasis for the SIU or new guidelines. There was a general discussion as to what action should be taken, the priority to be established and SIU policy. There was also assessment of the findings of the SIU investigation. There was general agreement that the SIU should be increased in strength, that it should pursue the objects for which it had initially been set up, i.e., procurers and abuse of young persons, with an expansion to include government servants with particular reference to those involved in law enforcement or administration such as police officers, magistrates, counsel, etc. The use of police informers and immunity were not discussed. There was no discussion of the actual strength of the SIU but there was general agreement that SIU had to be strengthened. The actual strength was left to Moor to decide. Also, at the meeting, the assessment was that any government officer would be at risk subsequent to the meeting whether they were informers or otherwise. At the meeting Moor expressed his concern regarding the continuance of the SIU and the pressures that they were likely to be subjected to including criticisms of various factions. It was agreed that Mr. Moor would take a more involved role in directing SIU operation and was to decide on the persons to be targeted for investigation and he would consult with the Attorney General. As those attending the meeting were leaving, they were told that they would be given instructions later. Within a day or so of the meeting, the Attorney General wrote to the Commissioner of Police. The letter, dated 31 August 1979, contained most of the suggestions of the Governor. The Commissioner of Police handed the letter to Mr. Moor. Moor showed the letter to Clancy the DCI. The terms of the letter correctly summed up what was decided at the meeting and represented the Terms of Reference for the SIU up to that time except for the paragraph relating to those charged with law enforcement. This exception represented a change of the original Terms of Reference of the SIU. This letter subsequently became known as "The Charter".
G.
THE CHARTER1 16
44.
It is necessary to set out the Attorney General's Charter of 31 August 1979 in full:-
te
Operation Rockcorry
I have read the resume CID report of 20 August 1979 and understand that the Police wish to have guidance upon what resources to devote to Operation Rockcorry.
A distinction can be made between direct evidence of criminal activity, and information or 'leads' which if time and manpower were devoted to them might enable the acquisition of such evidence. In general, where there is evidence in the possession of the police of the commission of any serious crime, it is their duty to lay that before the Attorney General's Chambers for a decision as to what action to take. But where there are only 'leads', then it is a matter of judgment in each individual case whether these should be followed up, or whether diverting police resources to do so would detract from the suppression of other sorts of crime having a higher priority in the prevailing circumstances, and hence not be in the wider public interest.
There being so much other crime with which to deal, including violent crime, illegal immigration and triad activities, and police resources obviously not being limitless, it is out of the question to devote sufficient resources to following up every allegation of homosexuality. The Police will therefore have to proceed in homosexual cases with a degree of selectivity. I realize what a difficult position this puts them in and I hope it may be helpful therefore if I set out some priorities.
This section is based on the evidence of Chief Superintendent Thorpe, supplemented by others who attended the meeting. Section 4 of the Police Force Ordinance (Cap. 232) provides:--
"4. The Commissioner, subject to the orders and control of the Governor, shall be charged with the supreme direction and administration of the police force."
This section is largely based on the evidence of Moor and Clancy.