Sir Geoffrey Howe
Mr. Han
Secretary of State for
है
advice
Jout this (k
pse.
seand
letter recewid from
hin
Today
?
Regálm
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Whitehall
London
SW1
PLUMTREE COURT,
LONDON,
EC4A 4HT.
TELEPHONE: 01-583 5000
23rd February 1988
HUD 373/1
M. Mclaren
is
Dear Geoffany
THE CARRIAN TRIAL
I am sorry to trouble you again about the above matter, but I do feel that the time has come for it to be dealt with. Over five months have elapsed since the judgement given by Mr Justice Barker on 15th September 1987, and since that time (apart from my own formal and official complaint, dated 8th October 1987) there has been the most outspoken criticism of the Judge's health, habits and judicial behaviour, which, I suspect, has ever been published in a civilised community.
The anxiety and criticism has not abated. I have sent you from time to time some representative press comments, and in case they are not sent to you from Hong Kong, I enclose a further batch. You will notice that Henry Litton, the leader of the Bar in Hong Kong, who is well respected, has written an article of extraordinary strength on the subject, which appeared in the Hong Kong Law Journal. In a further editorial in the same paper following Henry Litton's article, the comments are again astonishingly forthright. Questions are raised, not only about the Judge's fitness to discharge the functions of his office, but also about "misbehaviour", and it concludes, on page 13 of the enclosure, as follows:
"It is to be hoped that the Governor will give due consideration to this matter, in the interests of the maintenance and upgrading of the standards of administration of justice in Hong Kong, and that the issue of judicial accountability will now be examined seriously by all those who would like to work to improve our existing legal system.
11
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.