1
continuation and pace of
Hong Kong's
localisation
provisions
of
current
policy must of course have regard to the
Section IV of Annex I to the Joint
Declaration, whereby the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region Government
ma y
not employ foreign
nationals
as
heads of branches
or major departments after 1997. Hong
Kong Government
policies must mak e
allowances for this
now
if
we
to are
avoid
a very
damaging break
in
the
continuity of the civil service in
in 1997.
Equally, the
section of
Annex I
provides
for
the continued
same
employment of British and other foreign nationals at all
other levels of the civil service after 1997. The Hong
Kong Government's current policy on localisation makes
recognition of that fact, and of the need to proceed at a
pace that will not harm the overall quality and stability
of the service.
This was fully covered by the Governor in his annual
address to the Legislative
the Legislative Council on 30 October, when he
said that
would continue, "taking care to
en sure,
localisation would
however,
that
efficiency and morale are not
jeopardi sed". He added that "there will still be a place
for overseas officers, whose services are highly valued".
the
Chinese
While there is nothing in the speech that the
Director of the NCNA recently gave to y ou and other
judges,
any other statements by
authorities, to indicate that larger numbers of English
and Commonwealth judges should be employed now with
in or
view
to their being retained after
a
1997, the Hong Kong