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Further,
It has been suggested here that since Hong Kong has specifically asked about attending the meeting while the others have not, we need to do nothing about inviting the latter, but we might lay ourselves open to complaint after the event if we did this. we were told by the Home Office in 1974 (Dance's letter INT/74.501/ 181/1 of 1 July 1974) that if Hong Kong and other dependent territories were to be invited to the then forthcoming Commonwealth Law Ministers' meeting in Lagos, it would be essential for the Home Office to see that the Attorneys General of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man were also invited, and presumably this would still be the case. In other words, it is not just a question of considering whether one dependent territory representative should be included in the British delegation: we must be prepared to see two or three or even more additions to the delegation (at their own expense, I hasten to say).
6. I should add that it has long been accepted practice for representatives of British dependent territories to be included in the British delegation to the annual Commonwealth Finance Ministers' meetings, and also the triennial Commonwealth Education Conferences. Those who regularly attend the former are Hong Kong (the last Commonwealth Finance Ministers' meeting was in fact held in Hong Kong) and Bermuda and also Brunei (formerly a British Protected State and now a State in Treaty Relations with Britain), while Hong Kong and Bermuda also attend the Education conferences. The arrangement in the conference room is that there is an extra chair at the table next to that of the Head of the British delegation and this is occupied by a dependent territory's representative if he is particularly interested in the matter under discussion or wishes to speak. The justification for the inclusion of dependent territories' representatives in the British delegation at Commonwealth Finance Ministers meetings and Commonwealth Education conferences is that these meetings discuss matters of importance to the territories concerned. It would probably be more difficult to sustain this argument in regard to Commonwealth Law Ministers' meetings. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that dependent territories' representatives would both benefit from the discussions and establish useful contacts. We therefore hope that you and other departments concerned will be able to see your way to agreeing that Hong Kong and other dependent territories who may be interested should be invited to participate in the Winnipeg meeting, subject to the Commonwealth Secretariat confirming that they have no objection.
7. In view of the Home Office interest, I am copying to Moriarty also.
cc M G deWinton Esq CBE MC
Law Officers' Department J M Moran Esq
DH Fowler
Commonwealth Coordination Department
Lard Advocate's Department
M J Moriarty Esq Home Office
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