TNAG-0352-FCO40-388-Appointments-to-judiciary-of-Hong-Kong-1972 — Page 31

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Reference

Mr Crowson

JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS IN HONG KONG

1.

When he called this morning Mr Denys Roberts said that he hoped we would soon be able to send a reply to the 2 petitions about appointments from the Bar to the Bench. He admitted that there had been a 6 month delay in Hong Kong (he had been appalled to find the papers had been held up by the Establishment Secretariat for so long); however all that mattered to the petitioners was an answer from the Secretary of State. He thought that it would be best if the 2 petitions could be dealt with irst and if there could be a gap of a few weeks at least between the answer to the petitions and the appointment of the 2 new judges on which we had of course received a separate despatch.

2. I told Mr Roberts that we in Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department were not directly responsible for these questions but that I thought there were probably 2 reasons for the delay at this end the letter from Mr Henry Litton protesting against the proposed appointment of Mr Jackson Lipkin and a suggestion that the claims of Mr Justice Trainor for appointment to Hong Kong be taken into account.

3. Mr Roberts knew of Mr Trainor and remarked that, from the reports he had had both from officers on the Hong Kong establishment seconded to the New Hebridės and also from Sir Jocelyn Bodilly, it seemed to him that Mr Trainor was not such a strong candidate for one of the Hong Kong vacancies as other officers in the service (he mentioned Sir Jocelyn Bodilly himself and also Mr Summerfield). Mr Roberts made it clear that he had no first hand knowledge of Mir Trainor.

4. In passing, Mr Roberts said that they had decided not to introduce any special pension arrangements for those appointed from the Bar to the Bench for 2 reasons. First, they did not want to give officers of the legal service grounds for complaining that members of the Bar were being given preferential treatment in this respect. Secondly, they did not in fact want to encourage members of the Bar to seek promotion to the Bench.

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5. I agreed with Mr Scanlon, Mr Hall and Miss Daw when they came to see me about this some weeks ago that what we needed was a nice letter to the Governor drawing attention to Mr Litton's latest letter and to the claims of Mr Trainor for appointment and seeking his further views. I do not know why it has taken so long for us to deal with this matter.

I very much hope that it can now be agreed that we should dispose of the 2 petitions forthwith as recommended by the Governor. In other words, the principle of an occasional appointment from the Bar to the Bench will be accepted by the Secretary of State. The question of appointments to the 2 vacancies on the

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