TNAG-1183-FCO40-1485-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 44

CODE 18.77

212

CONFIDENT IAL

Reference........

219

(a) Mr Hoare, in paragraph 2(a) of his minute of 28 September,

mentions Rules 7 and 8. It is, of course, clear, from what you said in paragraph 3 of your minute of

24 September, that the arrangements provided for in these two Rules would not assist at all insofar as Article 9 is concerned. It is possible that, insofar as breaches of other Articles of the Covenant are involved, Rules 7 and 8 may assist but it is noticeable that the visiting justices may not themselves make any determinations and may only bring abuses to the attention of the Commissioner who, presumably, himself then decides what (if anything) to do. Without knowing how all this will work in practice it is difficult to give detailed advice, but I would suggest that there is a serious risk that such remedies as are available would not fulfil our obligations under Article 2(3) of the Covenant. The problem of the adequacy of remedies for prisoners' complaints is a highly complex one and is also under examination in the ECHR case of Silver v UK. We shall not, as I have said, have the Court's judgment on that case until at least the end of the year.

Maush

30 September 1982

DM Edwards Legal Counsellor

CONFIDENTIAL