TNAG-0214-FCO40-250-Proposals-for-appointment-of-a-ombudsman-in-Hong-Kong-1968 — Page 48

2600224

C.S. 84

For discussion

RESTRICTED

CONFIDENTIAL

on 28th January 1969

16ktii

XCR(69)9

Copy No

of 27

MEMORANDUM FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

COMMISSIONER FOR ADMINISTRATION

Honourable Members will be aware of suggestions from various sources for the establishment of an Ombudsman in Hong Kong. These suggestions have been resisted in the past, partly because of the inherent constitutional and practical difficulties of providing for the functions of an independent investigator in the system of Crown Colony government, and partly because of the development of alternative means for dealing with public complaints which have been thought more appropriate to the particular circumstances of Hong Kong.

2

These alternative means include the UMELCO Office; the Urban Council Ward System; the traditional avenues through the New Territories District Offices and the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs recently extended to include the City District Officers; and channels of petitions and appeal to the Governor, the Governor in Council and the Colonial Secretary.

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While all these avenues of appeal in practice provide substantial opportunities for the redress of genuine grievances, they perhaps do not fully command the confidence of the public because they do not provide a legal basis for the making of detailed investigations of the type carried out by the Commissioners for Administration in New Zealand or in the United Kingdom, where the Commissioners have powers of inquiry and the right to call for papers. Consideration has therefore been given to the possibility of drafting a bill which would provide for the setting up of a Commissioner for Administration with such powers. Careful note has been taken of the constitutional position here and the New Zealand and United Kingdom models have been adapted in such a way as to conform to the requirements of Hong Kong's constitutional framework.

4

The bill as at present drafted is annexed. It is pointed out that this is not in final form, though the text of the bill read in conjunction with the explanatory memorandum, gives a clear idea of what the powers of a Commissioner might be if it were decided to have such an institution in Hong Kong. Unlike the Parliamentary Commissioners of the United Kingdom and New Zealand, who are responsible to Parliament for carrying out their investigations, the Commissioner here would be appointed by the Governor and would report to, and be responsible to the Governor. Nevertheless, the bill preserves the essential feature of the system; namely the Commissioner's ability to report to the legislature upon complaints which, in his view, re- quire a matter to be rectified, a decision to be cancelled or varied, an administrative practice to be altered, or a law to be reconsidered. The Commissioner would report on such cases to the Governor, making such recommendations as he thinks fit, and sending a copy of his report and re- commendations to the Head of Department affected. The Colonial Secretary would be required, within a reasonable time thereafter, to forward a summary of the report to the Legislative Council, accompanied by such further report as the Colonial Secretary thinks fit on what action, if any, has been taken in consequence thereof. Thereafter, the matter could be raised in Council if Members wished to pursue it further.

RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL