TNAG-0200-FCO40-236-Divorce-rules-1970 — Page 35

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1969

Sir Leslie Monson

Hong Kong (Non-Domiciled Parties) Divorce

Rules 1969

Please refer to your minute to me of 17 December and Mr. Barrington's

minute to you of the same date. This instrument was made in pursuance of an

Act of Parliament which provides that Rules for the purpose in question shall

be made by a Secretary of State with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor.

Where an Act of Parliament authorises a Secretary of State to make Rules or

Regulations the only way in which the Secretary of State may exercise the power is, in my opinion, by signing a copy of the Rules or Regulations he desires to make. The only way of avoiding this would be to amend the Act in question. If you are prepared to contemplate the introduction of a Bill for this purpose, we can list the Acts which empower the Secretary of State to make Rules or Regulations. I cannot tell you what they are off-hand but I

know that they are few in number.

2. The more general question of saving the Secretary of State trouble in connection with statutory and prerogative instruments (the vast majority of which are not Rules or Regulations made by the Secretary of State but Orders in Council or occasionally Letters Patent made by Her Majesty) has already

been dealt with. The Foreign Office practice was to ask the Secretary of State to approve the draft of every such instrument by initialling it before the draft was sent forward to the Privy Council Office to be made. It seemed to Mr. Evans and myself that in the new Office, with its increased output of instruments, this practice should be abandoned. With the concurrence of the Private Office (Mr. Brighty) and the assistance of Mr. Rushford we drew up

new directions which were circulated under cover of OSS Notice No.

XG 12/4/97 of 18 September and will be found in Diplomatic Service Procedure Volume 2 Special Procedures paragraph 9 MISCELLANEOUS subparagraph (3). As you will see from section 17 of paragraph 9(3) Regulations made by the Secretary of State are to be submitted to him for approval and signature. For the reasons I have given this is unavoidable. As regards other instruments (and as I have said they are the vast majority) there is no necessity for troubling the Secretary of State personally. Sections 7 and 13 of paragraph 9(3) direct that the draft of an instrument in either of the classes referred to shall be submitted for approval of "a Minister" the classes in question comprise instruments that are subject to special Parliamentary procedure. As regards other classes of instrument, viz. statutory instruments

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