TNAG-1589-FCO40-21741-Future-of-the-judiciary-in-Hong-Kong.-Part-1-of-2-1987 — Page 122

(c) Funding the Public Services

10.

There are some signs of a feeling that

a feeling that the Judiciary's resource consumption is so small in proportion to the costs of an apparently well-funded Government that concern about cost need not be rigorous. To the extent that there is such a feeling it is erroneous. These factors are important :-

(1) current buoyancy of the revenue is по

guarantee that the condition will continue forever;

(2) the principles of public accounting always

apply;

(3) independence does not shelter the Judiciary

from normal

justification of and

accountability for expenditure.

In the particular stage of development which Heng Kong has now reached it is reasonable to think that in the next few years some spending departments may be facing significantly increased demands. The public demand for housing, hospitals, schools and roads always increases. The Judiciary would be unwise to be ccmplacent abcut its place in the queue unless it has the means to demonstrate that its housekeeping is good.

(d) The Future of Hong Kong

It

11.

Included in the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Future of Hong Kong is the statement that the Special Administrative Region will be vested with independent judicial power. The Elaboration by the Peoples Republic of China annexed to the Declaration says that after the establishment of the Special Administrative Region the judicial system previously practised in Hong Kong, shall be maintained. further says that the courts shall exercise Judicial power independently and free from any interference. A necessary inference is that the judicial system will have the administrative capacity to obtain and manage the resources it will need. In a new system of government a lack of administrative capacity might prove to be a serious handicap. It is one thing to carry on amending and improvising

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