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the Legal Year and to hold discussions.
honorarium of HK$500.00 per month.
He receives an
9.
A District Court Judge was seconded from Hong Kong
from July 1986 to August 1987 and an Assistant Registrar,
Supreme Court from July 1987 to February 1989 for the purpose of training and establishing an effective Supreme
Court Registry.
Recent Changes
10.
It became traditional for the Sultan to appoint
the last retired Chief Justice of Hong Kong as the President
of the Court of Appeal in Brunei. On the retirement of
Sir Denys Roberts in 1988 that arrangement was altered and
Sir Denys was appointed Chief Justice and spends some months
in Brunei each year dealing with cases at first instance.
At the same time the Chief Justice of Hong Kong was
appointed President of the Court of Appeal in Brunei.
11.
The only other significant change has been the
introduction, in Brunei, of the mandatory sentence of
whipping in a variety of offences.
12.
Provision has also now been made in the Brunei law
that, in capital cases, the judge may sit with a Hong Kong
District Judge rather than with a lay assessor from Brunei.
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Benefits to Hong Kong
13.
THIS IS A COPY
THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN
CLOSED UNDER
FOI EXEMPTION NO.
In October 1986 the Finance Committee enquired what were the benefits to Hong Kong of the provision of
judicial assistance to Brunei.
It was extremely difficult
27.(1)
to give any specific or convincing answer other than that a perceived benefit was that, within the common law judicial community, it asserted Hong Kong's place as a significant member. Hong Kong were seen-as assisting a less developed
judicial system.
It was also asserted that-there were some benefit to the judges themselves in that it broadened their experience and provided opportunities to act in more senior judicial-posts when judges were away in Brunei.
It is true
to say the arguments were not considered as particularly convincing and that there may not, in fact, be any real
benefit to Hong Kong in the arrangement.
Disadvantages to Hong Kong
14.
The volume of business in the Supreme Court in
Hong Kong is such that no arrangement, which takes
substantive judges away, can be regarded as other than disadvantageous to Hong Kong itself.
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The Future
18.
THIS IS A COPY
THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN
CLOSED UNDER
27
FOI EXEMPTION NO. .....(!)
The Minister of Law in Brunei has indicated that
it is intended to create an intermediate level court which
will be manned by some of the more senior magistrates in
Brunei and that this will relieve the High Court of a
certain amount of work.
19.
At the same time Brunei is recruiting a number of
retired Supreme Court Judges from Hong Kong with the
intention that they will relieve Hong Kong, initially,
of
CONFIDENTIAL