TNAG-1668-FCO40-2317-Future-of-Hong-Kong-continuity-of-administration-civil-serv-1987 — Page 131

}

SECTION 8

Forfeiture

8.1

The following benefits under this scheme will be paid at the discretion of the Civil Service Department, and nothing in the scheme will extend or be construed to extend to give any person an absolute right to them:

(i) payments under rule 3.2 for service after the completion of

45 years' reckonable service: payments under rule 3.32a; (ii) short service payments under rules 3.3 and 3.17;

(iii) ill health payments under rule 3.5;

(iv) death benefits under rules 3.8, 3.9 and 3.16;

(v) unestablished and marriage gratuities under rules 3.38 and

3.42;

(vi) compensation payments for premature retirement under

section 10 and injury benefits under section 11.

8.2 Subject to the provisions of this rule, the Civil Service Department will have power to withold benefits payable under this scheme where a civil servant or former civil servant is convicted:

(i) of one or more offences under the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1939 for which the person concerned has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of at least 10 years or has been sentenced on the same occasion to two or more consecutive terms amounting in the aggregate to at least 10 years; or (ii) of an offence in connection with any employment to which this scheme applies, being an offence which is certified by a Minister of the Crown either to have been gravely injurious to the State or to be liable to lead to serious loss of confidence in the public service.

80

Before benefits may be forfeited under this rule, the person concerned will be entitled to appeal against the forfeiture to an independent board nominated by the Civil Service Department; and, where an appeal is made, the Civil Service Department will accept the board's judgment on whether or not the appellant's pension benefits should be forfeited.

8.3 Forfeiture of pension benefits where a person is convicted of treason is provided for in the Forfeiture Act 1870; section 51 of the Bankruptcy Act 1914 and section 148 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1913 make provision for the payment of pensions in cases of bankruptcy; and section 5 of the Superannuation Act 1972 provides that any assignment or attempted assignment of a benefit under this scheme shall be void.

81