TNAG-1727-FCO40-2440-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 101

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Hong Kong had agreed to pay in the past, the position has completely changed with the signing of the Joint Declar- ation, which stipulates in Clause 4

that the Government of the United King- dom will be responsible for the admin- istration of Hong Kong with the object of maintaining and preserving its econ- omic prosperity and social stability'

until 1997. It would be a breach of

this clause for the British Government

to withdraw its troops from Hong Kong before then. For this reason, even if

we were to refuse to make any contrib- ution towards the defence costs, I am

sure that the British Government would never withdraw its troops from Hong Kong before 1997. I therefore reiterate in

Ι

this Council that Hong Kong should not pay any contribution at all towards the

defence costs of this ferritory.

boculisation

Sir, I will now deal with the perennial ^problem of localisation of the Judiciary and the Legal Department. I understand that the Hong Kong Bar Association has been pushing for an improvement of the terms of employment by the Government of local Judges and local lawyers in rel- ation to housing. The avowed intention

of the Government is to attract exper-

ienced local lawyers to join Government

service. These lawyers normally al-

ready have their own flats to live in,

and so the otherwise attractive fringe

benefit of housing will not be an incentive to them. Indeed it may turn

la.