;
31st December, 1932.
21
Dear Hancock,
"e have received a letter from the Colonial Office,
dated 27th December, with regard to the Hong Kong piracy
case of Rex v. "Chung Tam Kwong", and we see that a similar
letter has been sent to the Admiralty. It appears that the
Treasury have declined to sanction the cost of the proposed
reference to the Judicial Committee falling on the Vote of
the Treasury Solicitor's Department, and the Colonial
Secretary does not feel justified in asking the Hong Kong
Government to bear the cost of such reference.
It appears to us at the Board of Trade that it is in
the general interest that the question at issue should be
referred to the Judicial Committee, as the Law Officers
advised in their Opinion of the 29th July. Accordingly,
we propose to support the Colonial Office in pressing the
Treasury to re-consider the matter and to sanction the cost
of the reference falling on the Vote of the Treasury
Solicitor's Department.
Before writing in this sense we should be glad to know
whether the Admiralty will take a similar line; perhaps you
W.H. Hancock, Esq., M.B.E.
Admiralty,
S.W.1.
/would