HWB 14/34
Commonwealth Office,
Curtis Green Building, Victoria Embankment,
London, S. W. 1.
24th January, 1968.
Ју
Hong Kong Public Order Ordinance 1967
I am sorry that you have not had an earlier reply to your letter of 19th December to McPetrie, partly due to the number of representations we have received about the Ordinance and to other demands, including visits abroad, on the time of the lawyers here who were previously concerned with the terms of the Bill for this Ordinance.
2. We will certainly bear in mind your desire for early signification of non- di sallowance. However, in addition to the fact that the Governor's comments on the Reform Club's petition to the Queen did not reach the Commonwealth Office until 1st January, I should mention that the Minister of State has received from the London Office of "Justice" a very long and detailed criticism of various aspects of the Ordinance. This criticism, which supplements earlier comments from the London Office, was prepared by the Hong Kong branch of Justice and reached the Minister on 28th December. We think that we ought to satisfy our selves that there is nothing of overriding importance in these criticisms before signifying non-disallowance but will endeavour to do this as quickly as possible.
3.
As regards your last paragraph, Mr. Rankin laid the Reform Club's petition to the House of Commons on the Table of the House on 12th December and explained its purpose. The petition then went to the Committee of Public Petitions which considered it just before the Christmas Recess and did not order it to be printed. (As to printing of petitions and the making of reports by the Committee, see Erskine May, 17th Edition, p. 855). The petition now lies in the Journals Office where it may be inspected, but apart from an official notification to this Office of its receipt, nothing further will be done about it unless a motion is tabled about it.
D. T. E. Roberts, Esq., O.B.E., Q.C.,
Attorney-General's Chambers,
Hong Kong.
i
28
(D. G. Gordon-Smith)
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