RESTRICTED
Judges. The Chief Justice has been consulted and is
content.
Disciplinary Matters
13. Under CR 66 disciplinary action under CRS 56, 57 and 58 against any officer whose appointment was approved or who
was selected for appointment by the Secretary of State requires the prior consent of the Secretary of State. This covers anything from a reprimand to a dismissal in the public interest affecting any officer above point 34
(roughly equivalent to DS7D) on the Hong Kong Government's
Master Pay scale. The number of officers affected is about
15,000.
14.
HKG and we consider that the arguments in paras 6-7 and
9-10 apply here too and that the Secretary of State's right
of approval in disciplinary matters need be retained only
for officers whose appointment was originally made or
approved by him (essentially HMOCS officers or those from
other colonies) and for the posts to be prescribed for
approval under CR19 as set out in Annex A. (No comparable provision is required in respect of judges, who may be removed from office only following a reference to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.)
-
unless
15. In practice this change would mean that many officers would lose the Secretary of State's protection promoted to one of the posts at Annex A. However it would not affect the Secretary of State's role as "ultimate protector of the Public Service." (Paragraph 2.5 of DSP Volume 8). Further, any individual in the territory
(including members of the public service) has the right to petition the Secretary of State on any matter.
NIKAAV/5
RESTRICTED