TNAG-0678-FCO40-827-Allegations-of-corruption-and-bribery-in-Hong-Kong-1977 — Page 144

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Mrs Pryor's letter that the Hong Kong Branch of "Justice", the "Hong Kong Standard" and Mr Cater himself would welcome

the creation of an Ombudsman. When this idea was put forward in the Fabian Society pamphlet on Hong Kong a year ago, the Hong Kong Government's reaction was that persons in Hong Kong have a variety of channels of complaint open to them and make good use of them, and that the UMELCO Office performs similar

functions to those of an Ombudsman without some of the statutory restrictions under which he operates. This time, the Attorney- General has said that the Hong Kong Government consider that the UMELCO system is successful for dealing with complaints from individual members of the public, but that they would be prepared to review the system if the Unofficial Members themselves were

to suggest such a course. The UMELCO Office has handled an increasing caseload in recent years and it seems unlikely that its members would suggest the creation of an Ombudsman, since that would imply that they were unable to deal satisfactorily with complaints. Given the Hong Kong Government's position, I do not think that there is any immediate likelihood of an Ombudsman being created, assuming that we were to come to the conclusion that it would be a good idea. However, as Mr Cortazzi mentioned at his weekly meeting on 12 January, the Overseas Police Adviser has expressed concern about the effect which the ICAC's activities are having on police morale and on the freedom of the individual. The department will be considering this matter further with the OPA when Mr Stewart returns next week. If it were subsequently to be decided that we should raise the question of the ICAC's activities with the Governor, that might provide the occasion for further consideration to be given to the idea of creating an

Ombudsman. Meanwhile, I think that we should reply to Mrs Pryor's letter on the basis of the information provided by the Attorney-General.

Bf. I submit a draft reply for Lord Goronwy-Roberts' signature.

13 January 1977

DF Milton

D.F. Milton

lapec

Ренье

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CONFIDENTIAL