CONFIDENTIAL
25
TREASURY
SOLICITO
Our reference
A.81/318/JBB
Your reference HKK 380/1
R D Clift Esq
Hong Kong and General Department Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1
Bay Cit
Jea
BLAKER v INGRAMS AND OTHERS
Matthew Parker Street London SW1H 9NN
Telegrams Proctorex London SW1
Telephones
01-233 7694
SWITCHBOARD 01-233 3000 DIRECT LINE Telex 917564
Duncan Watson
26th August 1981
нек
8208 See Hkk 300/2 19.82 45
38011
*Y KI 5}
^ 3 SEP1981
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
24
No
PA.
Action Teken
16.4.E.
18/9
PCA 18/4
Thank you for your letter of the 25th August with enclosed copy letter
from Mr Jones.
see
十
+(28
*(copy enclosed)
WITH 13A
X
*
Bi
You ask for my comments on the Crown Solicitor's reply, and I have one
general comment. In the second paragraph of his letter, the Crown
Solicitor says that he has no objection to the documents being produced
on discovery, save in respect of two records which I referred to in my
letter to John Mallinson of the 19th June. In the first place, these
documents would not be produced 'on discovery' because they are not in the
possession of either the Plaintiff or the Defendants. They would only
be produced, subject to any claim of public interest immunity which might
be made, if a subpoena duces tecum were to be served upon the Secretary of
State particularising them. Thus, none of the documents would be
produced until the trial of the action, and it may well be that because the
Defendants do not know the nature of the documents which might, of course,
be very unhelpful to them, and the Plaintiff does not need them to make
his case, no subpoena will be served. If, on the other hand, production
of them is sought by the Defendant magazine, then I think you would wish to consider again the general grounds which I set out in paragraphs (a) to (c) on pages 3 and 4 of my letter of the 19th June, before advising the
Secretary of State that no claim for immuni
ith
should be made.
WITH (13A)
I think that the Crown Solicitor may not have taken into account the
general class within which the particular documents may fall. For
instance, it seems to me that documents which fall within a class
1