TNAG-0196-FCO40-232-Judiciary-appointments-1970 — Page 58

(i) He believes that Mr. Blair-Kerr "is not popular with the

Bar, but for reasons which do him no discredit":

It seems

to me that lack of popularity (which incidentally does not necessarily mean that one is not respected) should not in

these circumstances count against a man.

(ii) It is said that Mr. Blair-Kerr's promotion over Sir Ivo

Rigby and Mr. Scholes would give rise to criticism

"particularly amongst those who are apt to suspect some-

thing less than complete fairness and impartiality in

such government decisions": Taken with the reference in

paragraph 10 of the letter to Mr. Blair-Kerr's "reputation

for favouring the administration" I suppose this means

that there would be some in Hong Kong who would say that

he had been promoted because he was favourable to the

executive. But surely one is not to take account of

attitudes of that kind unless there is a basis for them

and nowhere in the reports do I find any suggestion that

Mr. Blair-Kerr's approach to his work is unjudicial.

(iii) He has no wife in the Colony: No doubt it is an

advantage to the Chief Justice himself and to the community

if he has a wife who will play her part in the social and

welfare work of the community; but the lack of this can

hardly be an important factor in choosing between two

candidates unless they are approximately equal in other

respects. We should ask the Governor if he has any

particular difficulty in mind on this score.

(iv) It is said that he is little known outside judicial and

legal circles: But these are the circles that are most immediately important and if he were appointed as Chief

Justice he would of necessity become more widely known.

(v) It is said that he is somewhat lacking in personal "presence":

This might be thought to suggest that he has a personality which makes no impact. If I may venture a personal opinion here, I do not find this to be so. He is admittedly quiet

and unelaborate in manner, but he is certainly not a negative

personality, nor does he lack self-confidence.

17.