TNAG-0214-FCO40-250-Proposals-for-appointment-of-a-ombudsman-in-Hong-Kong-1968 — Page 27

CONFIDENTIAL

1.

Ombudsman for Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Government have for several years been

considering the possibility of establishing a post of Ombudsman

or similar office.

They even reached the stage of preparing

a draft Bill for the purpose which they sent to us some time

ago for our comments.

But in so doing they emphasised that

the Bill was only a working document; that it was not intended for publication and should not be taken as any indication of

a decision to create such a post.

2.

There is a body of opinion in Hong Kong including the local branch of Justice (International Commission of Jurists) which favours the appointment of an Ombudsman and the

matter has been the subject of press comment in the Colony

during the past three or four years. It has also been the

subject of occasional Parliamentary interest here.

3.

It is, however, evident that among Unofficial Members

of both the Executive and Legislative Councils there is a

substantial body of opinion which doubts whether an Ombudsman

is necessary or whether such an appointment could make for any improvement in the facilities already available in that

field. These doubts are now shared by the Governor who

considers that steps should first be taken to strengthen

the machinery which already exists for enabling members of

the public to bring their grievances to the notice of the

authorities. One such step was recently taken with the

appointment of a senior officer in the Administrative Service (Mr. R.W. Primrose) as full time Administrative Secretary to

the Office of the Unofficial Members of the Executive and

Legislative Councils (UMELCO).

/4.......

CONFIDENTIAL