TNAG-0196-FCO40-232-Judiciary-appointments-1970 — Page 77

PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL

4.

both judicial and administrative matters. He is highly competent in civil and criminal law, and is particularly valuable when the more difficult legal problems arise. He is a fast, accurate and effective worker, who has handled with marked competence any task confided to him: and he has had a number, including a difficult Commission of Inquiry. Measured by ability alone, he and Roberts are the outstanding candidates. He has however the reputation of leaning somewhat towards the prosecution and severe penalties. I believe he, also, is not popular with the Bar: but for reasons which do him no discredit it is largely I think because of some well-founded criticism which he expressed very publicly some years ago, though this may now have become transmuted into a feeling in some circles that he tends to lean toward his former colleagues in the Legal Department. There is, I think, little doubt that his elevation over Rigby and Scholes would give rise to criticism in some circles: particularly amongst those who are apt to suspect something less than complete fairness and impartiality in such government decisions. He has the greater disadvantage of having no wife in the Colony (they are separated) and although he has been prominent in musical circles, having been Chairman of the Philharmonic Orchestra, he is not, at present, nearly as well known to the public as Rigby being comparatively little known outside judicial and legal circles and being somewhat lacking in personal "presence His seniority is also substantially less, but I think that is a comparatively minor factor at this stage of their careers. His wider experience prior to joining the service has enabled him to make a more valuable contribution to the work of the Judiciary than has been forthcoming from Rigby, as he has demonstrated a capacity for sustaining a higher level of intellectual effort and producing better-disciplined and better-directed work than the latter. He also enjoys, I believe, a greater liking and respect amongst the staff.

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