(118281) Dd. 391599
1,500M 2/69 Hw.
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Registry No.
*
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
DRAFT
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
•
In Confidence
To:-
Type 1 +
From
12/4445 29
Telephone No. & Ext.
Department
Record of Discussion with Sir David Trench,
Governor of Hong Kong
November 1969
Successor to Sir Michael Hogan, Chief Justice
The Governor said that he would rather recommend
Mr. Justice Blair-Kerr but felt that unless there were
exceptionally good reasons for preferring him to the
Senior Judge, Sir Ivo Rigby, the impression would be
given that a capricious decision to promote a junior
had been taken. He would not expect there to be too
strong adverse reaction outside the Legal and Judicial Service to the appointment of Mr. Blair-Kerr, although
the Bar might well, for their own reasons, prefer the
But members of the appointment of Sir Ivo Rigby. Judicial and Legal Services would probably think that
a decision against the senior man had been made on the
Sir Ivo Rigby unprofessional judgment of "outsiders".
would be able to say that he had acted as Chief Justice
on a number of occasions without incurring criticism.
2. Sir James McPetrie did not think that Sir Ivo Rigby's colleagues, who knew his limitations, would be
in much doubt why he had been passed over.
Nor did
he expect that they would feel that he had been unjustly treated. It was true that Sir Ivo Rigby
had acted as Chief Justice but this was not the same
thing as a permanent appointment.
He agreed that
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