TNAG-1589-FCO40-21741-Future-of-the-judiciary-in-Hong-Kong.-Part-1-of-2-1987 — Page 106

(3) so is colonial paternalism;

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(4) so is the Asian wish for harmony;

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(5) the risk of upsetting China is a useful excuse for inertia.

One official in HK asked me what he regarded as the

"Can the Judiciary of the SAR be

all-important question:

independent?"

My answer was and is that without its own internal

system of administration it has no hope of independence.

9. My report is mainly directed at improvements for now rather

than the future but the implementation of its proposals for

administration might be the best preparation for the future of the

Judiciary in the new constitution.

The report may at least give the

Lord Chancellor a reason, if he needs one, for making an inquiry now

or later. A further point for the Lord Chancellor is that the next

Chief Justice will need to have a talent for judicial administration.

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10 Last month in Wellington I met members of the NZ Law

Commission. The President, Owen Woodhouse, sent you his regards.

Their functions are not altogether as in the UK. For instance, they

have taken on the radical survey of the courts and tribunals which

Peter Trapski mentioned to you and me last year. They also have a