CONFIDENTIAL 33723/3/50.
Colonial Offics,
14
The Church House,
Great Smith Street,
London, S.4.1.
13th December, 1950.
13
hunytrachicolt
1
Thank you for your letter of the 27th November about the appointment of a new chairman to the Public Services Commission when Rogarry retiros next arch.
We are very interested in your proposal to increase the number of luisne Judges to three and to appoint one of them as part-time chairman of the Commission. In principle, we think there is nothing in the proposal inconsis- tant with a Judge's functions, though we shall of course want to see what owe thinks of the matter and examine it in greator detail when your official letter arrives. In particular, we are glad to see that you have already given consideration to what we think is the main objection – nazely that a Judge might be kept on .ublic Services work too long, with possible detriment to his position on the Bench. are dispose to think that no Judge should hold the chairman- ship for longer than a year at a stretch. But, as I say above, we shall want to think this point over when your official letter arrives.
We
Another reason for welcoming ts addition to the judicial establishment is that it so clear that with four Judges (including the Chief Justice) availablo, it should be possible to make more satisfactory arr ngements for constituting a Court of Appeal then with only three Jules. In this connection perhaps you would refer to correspondence ending with Mr. Creech Jones' despatch No. 130 of the 15th June, 1949, (our ref. 55362/49 an yours 4/2743/47). Ve do not mean to suggest that the n. appointment necessarily obviates the need for the continuance of the reciprocal arrangements whereby the Court Justices of singapore and
/long Kong-
HIJOM,
..G.