that one of the grounds of possible criticism was thought to be Blair-Kerr's alleged reputation "of leaning somewhat towards the prosecution and severe penalties;" Rigby having precisely the reverse reputation!
4.
Now, as regards the considerations, this inevitably spills over into the merits or otherwise of potential candidates and I mention these with some trepidation and certainly with
no intention of prejudicing in any way your eventual recommendation. But the field is narrow and in these circumstances, it is difficult to deal with the considerations to be taken into account without relating them to the personalities concerned.
5. My remark that the field is narrow is based on (1) our present assessment that there is little likelihood that a candidate of suitable standing from any other overseas territory will be available and (2) the fact that enquiries we made in 1969 after a preliminary exchange of views with David showed that there was no hope of persuading the Lord Chancellor to release a serving judge in the United Kingdom for the appointment owing to pressure of works in the Courts here. We have not re-opened this question with the Lord Chancellor's Department and should not do so without seeking your views first. But in any event we could not hope for any success unless we could maintain that it was impossible to fill the post from Hong Kong itself.
6. So inevitably one comes to the local candidates. The first of these, as the survivor of the names discussed in David's letter of 10 October 1969 is Denys Roberts - this is on the assumption that, since he will reach the statutory retiring age of 62 some six months after Rigby, Blair-Kerr should be ruled out on age grounds and it is felt inappropriate that he should hold the substantive appointment for so short a time, in spite of his merits. There is no doubt on his reports since his first appointment to Nyasaland of Denys's ability and in recent years we have been much in his debt over the personal contribution he has made, eg to keeping the confrontation prisoners' affair down to manageable proportions. David bracketed him in 1969 with Blair Kerr as being ahead of Rigby in ability. He was ruled out on the grounds of age, it being reckoned he could wait "a few years" before expecting elevation to the highest appointment in the overseas judiciary clearly he is a strong runner.
7.
There are however some counter-considerations that have, to be weighed. First he has had no judicial experience and, if selected, would go straight into what should be the most responsible judicial post open to him. Secondly, though in the past good Attorney- Generals have been offered Chief Justiceships, it has usually been in a different territory from that in which they served as Attorney- General. The "policy" reasons for this are obvious, and if it counted against Blair-Kerr in 1969 that there was "a feeling in some circles that he tends to lean towards his former colleagues in the Legal Department (which he had left for the Bench in 1959),' a fortiori there would seem to be the same risks of criticism of a
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