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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Trevelyan House Great Peter Street
London SW1P 2BY
Telephone Direct line 01-210 8600
Enquiries 01-210 8500
Fax 01-210 8549
Your reference
Miss Patricia Barnes
Library and Records Department Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London
SW1.
29/1
Our reference
Date
27
PR1/36/12
Janay
1988
Dear
Pat,
PUBLIC RECORDS ACT 1958
www.
HONG KONG GOVERNMENT RECORDS.
You wrote to David Watts on 10th September last year seeking advice about the status of microfiche records which are presently being created in Hong Kong and which are due to be transferred to FCO in 1997. I am very sorry for the delay in replying to you about this matter.
I have now received the views of our legal advisers and the PRO about the points you have raised. Our view is
Our
that since, according to your letter, the microfiche records will be sent to London for use within the FCO,
the FCO, they will on arrival become public records and therefore fall within the scope of the Public Records Act. On the question of when the 30 year period should commence, our view, which accords with that of your own legal advisers, is that it must run from the date upon which the record was created and not from the date on which the microfiche came into existence. Clearly, merely transferring a record on to microfiche does not create a new record any more than taking a photocopy does. The period would, of course, run from the date of the latest record on each individual microfiche since the fiche constitutes an assembly under Section 10 (2) of the Act.
As far as allaying the Hong Kong Government's fears about the protection of sensitive material
material is concerned, our initial thoughts are that the microfiche could be subject on transfer to FCO to a Section 3 (4) instrument, as being
being required for administrative use. The period covered by the Section 3 (4) instrument would enable the records to be sorted and for consideration to be given to their future use and suitability for public release. You may therefore wish to assure the Hong Kong Government that provisions exist for the protection of sensitive material but
but that detailed discussion of what needs to be protected, and for what periods, will need to take place nearer the time.
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