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"Moreover, there would be a very damaging judicial vacuum, of possibly two to three years, during which there would be no right of appeal due to the absence of a court with the necessary jurisdiction."
Mr Mathews said the Government was firmly of the view that the 1991 Joint the so-called 4+ 1 Liaison Group Agreement on the composition of the court - formula was in conformity with the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
He pointed out that neither the Joint Declaration, nor the Basic Law conferred an unfettered discretion on the CFA to invite judges from other common law jurisdictions to sit on the court.
Instead they established a general principle that the CFA was to have a power to invite such judges to sit on the court, but left the precise scope of that power to be defined in the course of implementation of that general principle, he said.
Mr Mathews also noted that careful consideration was being given to the comments of the Bar Association on the draft Court of Final Appeal Bill and the Administration would soon seek Executive Council's advice on whether to make any amendments to the technical and practical aspects of the draft bill.
The aim remained to introduce the finalised bill into the Legislative Council as early as possible this year, thus allowing adequate time for discussion of the bill in the Council before the end of the current session in July, he added.
End/Monday, January 9, 1995
AG appoints audit team to review payment of fees to counsel on BMFL case
The Attorney General, Mr Jeremy Mathews, today (Monday) appointed an internal audit team within the Legal Department to review the payment of fees to counsel briefed by the department to work on the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance Ltd (BMFL) case.
The team comprises the Senior Assistant Crown Solicitor, Mr Kenneth Somerville, and the Treasury Accountant, Mr Simon Chan.
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