TNAG-1173-FCO40-1465-Future-of-Hong-Kong-special-study-by-FCO-for-the-Prime-Minis-1982 — Page 219

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Effect of Relinquishment of Sovereignty

11. If the United Kingdom were to continue to administer

t

Hong Kong as a 'caretaker' under a management contract'

with the PRC, it would be necessary to maintain the

essential features of the present system.

Possible Changes

12. It would be possible to give a more 'autonomous'

character to the courts in various ways:-

a) they need not formally be 'Her Majesty's

courts';

b)

c)

local machinery for the appointment and

removal of judges and magistrates could be

established, eg by means of a suitably- constituted judicial service commission,

provided that it secured the appointment of suitable and qualified persons and ensured the independence and impartiality of the

judiciary (there has already been a considerable devolution in practice over

the selection of candidates to the local

authorities and a greater measure of local

autonomy would be consistent with recent

developments);

it would be possible to abolish appeals to the Judicial Committee in London. Many former United Kingdom dependencies have on independence maintained the appellate

jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee and

some independent members of the Commonwealth still do so, even when not (or no longer)

part of Her Majesty's dominions. Examples

are Malaysia, which has its own monarchy,

and Singapore, The Gambia and Trinidad and

5

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/Tobago