CO129-615-9 Crown Lands 12-4-1949 - 28-9-1949 — Page 27

Secretariat file 2/3171/47.

No. 64.

Answil (3)

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

th.

HONG KONG.

12 April, 1949.

27

1

X

Sir,

54344/44

I have the honour to address you on the subject of authority to grant licences and permits in respect of Crown Lands and the delegation of such authority to appropriate officers of this Government.

2.

It has for long been the practice for land in certain cases to be granted on short term permits or licences instead of on lease for a long period. In the absence of pre-war records it is not clear how this practice arose and recently doubt has been cast on the legality of such actions and also on the legality of delegating my authority to deal with land to an officer of this Government. Article XIII of the Letters Patent gives me the power to make grants and dispositions of Crown Lands in conformity with the laws of the Colony or of instructions issued to me through you. I am advised that while the word "disposition" might be taken to cover the grant of a permit or licence on the grounds that in a document such as the Letters Patent the greater must include the less, the point is not beyond doubt as a licence is technically not a disposition as no right of exclusive possession passes to the licensee and no estate or interest in the land is transferred thereby.

3.

Even if it is agreed that Article XIII is sufficient authority for the granting of land on licence or permit and the fixing of fees therefor, the present practice here is still open to objection, because we have been unable to find any authority for me to delegate the power to make such grants to suitable officers of this Government. An old record which has survived shows that on 5th May 1921, Sir R. Stubbs approved that all permits to occupy land for one year or less should be issued by the Director of Public Works without reference to the Colonial Secretariat unless a question of policy was involved. It also appears that on 26th June 1921, Sir R. Stubbs authorised the District Officers to issue permits for Crown Land up to one year with the same proviso. The record we have does not contain any reference to correspondence with the Colonial Office, but it seems very probable that the matter must have been discussed then or at some other time. Jack's Digest which contains a summary of instructions relating to land issued by the Colonial Office, does not refer to these points.

40

I am advised that it is desirable to take action to remove any doubts regarding current practice and that the best way to achieve this would be to amend the Letters Patent on the following lines:-

(i)

By the addition of the following between the first sentence and the proviso of Article XIII:-

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

ARTHUR CREECH JONES, M.P.

/"The Governor