STAFF
IN CONFIDENCE
Reference.......
13)
Sir Leslie Monson
Please refer to the Governor's letter to yourself of
18 July and the letter to me of 23 July from the Chief Justice.
2. I had, of course, realised that on the retirement of
Sir Michael Hogan one might have to choose between Sir Ivo Rigby
and Mr. Blair-Kerr as his successor and that this could be
embarrassing if Mr. Blair-Kerr was regarded professionally as the
stronger candidate. I had this aspect of the matter in mind in
suggesting to Mr. Moreton that he might canvas the idea of appointing a Q.C. from the English Bar as the next Chief Justice; but principally my thought was that the impact of an experienced
practitioner from the English Bar would have a healthy effect on
the Bench (which, though good enough, is rather inward looking)
and also upon the Bar, whose members sometimes seem to me rather
complacent and in need of a shake-up.
3. To promote a member of the local Bench as Chief Justice over
the head of another Puisne Judge who is his senior can, of
course, be embarrassing; but it is an embarrassment that has
been faced up to before now. In fairness to the Governor, it
should be stated that in the present case there are factors
which would increase the degree of embarrassment, for Sir Ivo Rigby, though paid the same salary as the other Puisne Judges, is not merely the senior of the Puisne Judges but holds an appointment specifically styled "Senior Puisne Judge" and automatically acts for the Chief Justice when the latter is see exchange of minutes at (4) and (6) on this file. was in recognition of his holding this appointment that Sir Ivo received a Knighthood in 1964, as we thought that in terms of status and responsibility the appointment could be equated with some of the smaller Chief Justiceships whose incumbents at about
that time were being knighted.
away
4.
It
Having rejected the idea of appointing an English Q.C., for
perfectly understandable reasons, the Governor and the Chief
Justice seek to defer the evil day when they may have to make a recommendation as between Sir Ivo and Mr. Blair-Kerr by asking us whether we can suggest a better candidate from among the ranks of service judges or recently retired service judges. It
would have been better if, instead of running away from their problem, they had firmly grasped the nettle and given us their considered assessment of the position as between the two local
candidates. What one would like to know is
(a) Do they consider that Sir Ivo Rigby is likely to
be a satisfactory Chief Justice if they consider he is not, then they could not conscientiously
recommend him.
/(6)
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.