TNAG-0106-FCO40-142-Proposals-to-appoint-an-Ombudsman-1969 — Page 188

Constitutional Difficulties.

3. The institution of Ombudsman or Parliamentary Commission

might provide a worthwhile independent check on executive actions

under the system of Crown Colony Government as in force in Hong

Kong; but the constitutional peculiarities would give rise to

difficulties. One such difficulty is the question of to whom the

Ombudsman should report. Sovereign power does not rest with the

Colonial legislature, which in Crown Colony Government is neither

fully representative nor responsible.

It rests in the Colony

with the Governor and through him and the Secretary of State

ultimately with the United Kingdom Parliament. The non-

representative nature of the local legislature raises another

difficulty that of devising an adequate sifting procedure before

complaints are referred to the Ombudsman,

These and other

problems require very careful examination, both here and in Hong

Kong.

Established Machinery

4. In the absence of any elected representation in the Central

Councils of Government, the Hong Kong Government are well aware

of the importance of providing ways and means of enabling the

people of Hong Kong to make known their views on the administration

of the Colony's affairs. In addition to the traditional arrange-

ments which exist in any dependent territory for dealing with grievances and complaints from members of the public (e.g. the

standard system of Questions in the Legislative Council; petitions

to the Governor and to the Secretary of State; letters or oral

complaints to the Colonial Secretary, to the Secretariat for

Chinese Affairs, and to heads of Government Departments) the

following machinery has been in existence for some time: -

(1) the "U.M.E.L.C.O"