11-JUN-1992 15:33
PAUL FIFOOT
837272375ES
STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
ON MEMBERSHIP OF HMOCS
DRAFT
1.
Under the Special Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service, eligibility to apply for membership of HMOCS is confined to members of the former Colonial Service and expatriate officers appointed to a pensionable office who satisfy certain conditions as to their recruitment. Overseas officers who
were appointed to the service of the Hong Kong Government on agreement terms on or before 28th March 1985 were notified by Hong Kong Civil Service Branch Circular No. 6/85 that they were eligible to apply to transfer to pensionable terms if their application for transfer was received within a certain period, which (following various extensions) [expires] [expired] on the 30th June 1992. Circular 6/85 had consequences for an officer's eligibility to apply for membership of IIMOCS. If his application for transfer to pensionable terms was accepted by the Hong Kong authorities, and the officer satisfied the conditions relating to recruitment, the officer became eligible to apply for membership of HMOCS. That possibility will now come to an end. With the exception referred to in paragraph 2 below, the Secretary of State will not accept any application for membership of HMOCS from any officer in the service of the Hong Kong Government other than an officer whose application for transfer to pensionable service is received by the appropriate Hong Kong authority after 30th June 1992.
2. Members of the Hong Kong Judiciary continue to be cligible to apply for transfer to pensionable terms in accordance with the Pension Benefits (Judicial Officers) Ordinance. The Registrar of the Supreme Court was notified by the Hong Kong Civil Service Department on the 21st February 1989 that the "deadline for transfer to the permanent establishment of the civil service shall not henceforth apply to overseas judicial officers", i.e. the requirement of Circular No.6/85 that officers would not be eligible for transfer to pensionable terms unless they
3.