TNAG-1280-FCO40-1631-Public-Service-in-Hong-Kong-devolution-of-Secretary-of-State-1983 — Page 32

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PUBLIC SERVICE IN U.K. DEPENDENT TERRITORIES

L'NIFORMITY

Conditions of Service in Dependent Territories

525

So long as the Secretary of State for the Colonies remains respon- sible for the public service in dependent territories, central direction and supervision naturally preserve a high degree of uniformity in both law and practice. Even where local legislation is necessary, it is Bot surprising (quite apart from the control of legislation exercisable by the Crown) that, with few exceptions, enactments on important subjects, notably pensions, are in common form; for the simple reason that they were taken from some of the model Ordinances," drafted in the Colonial Office in the light of wide and long experience of needs and problems presenting themselves from every corner of the world. These legislative codes are still in force in dependent territories and, even if, in countries now independent, they have been replaced, the labours of the Colonial Office have doubtless left their mark.

COLONIAL REGULATIONS

78

The word "uniformity" is not entirely apt, for the terms of service of public officers in dependent territories depend, in the main, en Part I of Colonial Regulations --described in Regulation 1 as "Directions to Governors for general guidance given by the Crown through the Secretary of State for the Colonies." There are a few Regulations in Chapter 2-relating to the appointment (usually for period of five years), salary, leave and passages of Governors- but the majority appear in Chapter 3, headed "Officers." They are divided into sections indicated by the letters A to J, dealing respec- tively with Appointments, Acting Appointments, Seniority, Salaries and Allowances, Conduct and Discipline, Passages, Leave, Medical Examinations, Transfer Arrangements and Retirement.

In many territories, the Colonial Regulations have been largely superseded by local General Orders or Public Service Regulations, but they usually follow the Colonial Regulations in detail.

Appointments

The first two Regulations (16 and 17) are of special significance from the legal point of view. The first stipulates that: "The Regula- tions as to appointment to public offices do not constitute a contract between the Crown and its servants." The first eight words are not without ambiguity, but, if only as a matter of common sense and an application of the general principles governing service under the

"1956 ed., Colonial No. 322.