Enclosure No.4
Your Excellency,
Chief Justice's Chambers,
Courts of Justice,
Hong Kong.
4th July, 1934.
I have the honour to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter No.1/4299/1929 of 25th May on the
subject of the proposed amendment of section 11 of the
Supreme Court Ordinance 1873.
In a Colony of many races such as this it is
I think, of the utmost importance that the community generally
should be satisfied of the complete independence of the
judiciary. Neither I nor any of my brother judges could
personally have any grave objection to the proposed wording
of clause 3, for we know that in practice application for
the Governor's consent would be made extremely seldom, and
that if in exceptional circumstances such an application were
made the decision would be a proper and an amicable one. That
however is, in my opinion, only one aspect of the case, and
a relatively unimportant one. There is, I fear, a risk that
the public may form the impression, from the wording proposed,
that the conduct of judicial officers is subject to control
by the head of the Executive, and however unfounded such an
impression may be it should, I think, be avoided if possible.
I am further inclined to agree with your Excellenc
that the onus which the clause places upon the shoulders of
the Governor is an invidious one which it is undesirable that
he should be called upon to bear.
I should personally prefer to see the words
y