15
6
53999/1/48
Your Ref: Secretariat 1/1519/48c
HON LONG
No. 331
Colonial office,
The Church House, Aestminster,
/4
October, 1948.
Sir,
1.
GOVERNOR,
I have the honour to refer to your despatch No. 34 Staff of the 6th May, 1948, setting out proposals for a reorganisation of the Judicial and Legal Departments.
2.
My Advisers have had the opportunity of discussing these proposals with Mr. Griffin, the Attorney-General of Hong Kong.
3.
I have given the proposals careful
consideration and, subject to the following comments, I approve them generally. In particular I approve your proposals for the creation of new posts of one uisne Judge and a Registrar General. |hy approval of the 1948/49 Estimates, which
include the additional post or Legal Officer mentioned in paragraph 13 of your despatch under reference, has already been conveyed to you.
4.
I may observe that the expression "Legal Officer" is appropriate only to describe a grade, all the officers in which hold some legal post bearing some other title. If I understand your proposals correctly, they are in keeping with this principle, the intention being ţe) that every legal officer will be appointed as Cron Counsel Magistrate, Legal Draftsman or Assistant Registrar General; and (b) that when the present holder of the post of Crown Solicitor vacates it, that post will not be redesignated "Senior Legal Officer" but will be abolished, and that, in its place, there will be a new grade of "Genior Legal Officer" which will, at least for the time being, contain only one officer, who may bẹ the holder of any post open to a Legal officer.
If
5. I also underet nd that your proposal is that for posting and other established purposes (but not for any other purposes) all Legal Officers would be under the Attorney-General. It follows that the Attorney-General would have authority, after consultation with the Chief Justice, to transfer officers to and from magistracies. the Chief Justice has agreed to this proposal I do not wish to object, but I do not think the principle should be accepted if the Chief Justice is opposed to it. The normal course would be for changes of this nature to be made by the Governor after consultation with both the Chief Justice and the Attorney-ʊeneral.
SIR ALEXANDER GRANTHAM,
etc.,
etc.,
.C.4.0. etc.
Further, it is
stated