CO129-582-4 Legal Department- vacancies for Magistrates and Crown Counsel 11-5-1939 - 24-10-1939 — Page 8

4. Gov.

Conf.

Acks.

3

with

comments.

22. 8. 39.

8

Sir G. Bushe minuted as follows on another

file (53625/39) on the 8th August.

If

"I do not think it will be very satisfactory

to recruit someone as a Crown Counsel and then

for him to find when he arrives in Hong Kong

that he is the Official Receiver in Bankruptcy

and Registrar of Trade Marks and Patents.

that is the post for which they are recruiting,

surely it is better to recruit for it and to tell

the candidate that he may be asked to act, or

may be transferred to a Magistracy or Crown

Counsel. Do try and impress upon them that the

legal people must be recruited for, and appointed

to definite posts, and that that can be done

without prejudice to their being transferred to

or acting in other posts as occasion requires

it."

* Men recruited

for Magistrato vac- ancies are to be recruited as

Magistrates, and it may be, there- fore. That "Magis- "trale" is a' spec. ific post.

Mr. Harford has shown that the "post for

which they are recruiting" is probably not that of

Official Receiver etc. I am afraid I am responsible

for the idea that it was.

It appears, however, from 4) that unless the

posts of Magistrate and 0.R. etc. are "specific

X

posts", although on the time scale, the Governor

1

proposes to use the title "Crown Counsel" even for

an officer initially appointed as a Magistrate or as

O.R. and this is at variance with the principles in

the above quoted minute.

The