TNAG-0106-FCO40-142-Proposals-to-appoint-an-Ombudsman-1969 — Page 27

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10. A leakage in Hong Kong of extracts from the text of the draft legislation mentioned in paragraph 5 above has prompted Mr. Sargant's request for a copy in his further letter of 14 November. The legislation was essentially an "exercise" and its publication was never

intended. This is the line being taken in Hong Kong where a request

for a copy by the local branch of Justice has been refused. I think

we must follow the same line and decline to provide a copy to Mr. Sargant.

11. Finally, Mr. Sargant has expressed the view that an Ombudsman might be useful in Seychelles. I have consulted Pacific and Indian Ocean Department. We think that the Minister may prefer to deal with both the Hong Kong and Seychelles aspects in one letter and the attached draft reply to Mr. Sargant has therefore been framed on this assumption. The last paragraph of the draft is based on material provided by Pacific and Indian Ocean Department who state that there have been, as Mr. Sargant says in his letter, various scandals in the past. Such events were part of life in Seychelles but one hopes that they will happen less often in the future now that development of the islands has begun in earnest. They know of no current evidence pointing to unrequited injustice, although some old sores fester intermittently.

4 December, 1969

b. 5. Carter

(W. S. Carter)

Hong Kong Department