XN000022-1995-10-31 — Page 2

. 1-

Govt needs time to consider localisation policy judgment

The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Michael Sze Cho-cheung, said today (Tuesday) that it would take a few days to consider the implications of the judgment handed down by Mr Justice Keith in the action taken by the Association of Expatriate Civil Servants (AECS) against the Government's localisation policy.

"The judgment has upheld almost all the decisions challenged," said Mr Sze.

"The decisions under challenge were taken by the Government in implementing its localisation policy," he commented, "They were taken very carefully to balance the interests of different groups of officers. They were taken in good-faith as a fair compromise.

"But, the judgment has raised a number of questions," he added, "We need to look at the details very carefully to consider the implications before commenting in detail".

"All the principal features of the temporary arrangements were upheld, including arrangements under which 47 officers are serving at one rank below their substantive rank.

"The new mechanisms in place for renewing agreements have been upheld by the judgment" said Mr Sze.

AECS had filed an application for a judicial review in October last year, seeking to challenge the Government's localisation policy.

It cited 44 decisions taken by the Government and leave was granted by the High Court in January to hear the case against 27 of the decisions.

The three-week substantive hearing began on September 14 before Mr Justice Keith and judgment was handed down today.

Of the 27 decisions, the judge ruled that 18 were lawful, five were unlawful and four as not amenable in the case. The Judge also decided that in the circumstances both parties should bear their own costs.

End/Tuesday, October 31, 1995