TNAG-1863-FCO40-2643-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1989 — Page 159

CONFIDENTIAL

9

000 GOVT HOUSE

HK

Article

Art. 80

Art. 88

Problem

This nomenclature of SAR courts at various levels differs both from that currently in use and from that which we have proposed as a consequence of the establishment of the Court of Final Appeal.

(a) The word "only" which

appears in JD 65 is cmitted from para. 1. This casts doubt on whether the conditions set out in this paragraph constitute the only grounds on which a judge of the HK courts may be removed.

(b) As the removal of the Chief Justice of the court of final appeal is separately dealt with in the second paragraph of this article, it needs to be made clear that the provisions in para. 1 does not apply in his

case.

Suggested Solution

Our suggestions on the nomenclature of the SAR courts have been made in the paper outlining the proposals for the Court of Final Appeal for HK, handed over to the Chinese on 26.2.1988. In brief, the CFA should be called "The HK Court of Final Appeal" and the collective title for the present Court of Appeal and High Court should be changed from "Supreme Court" to "Superior Courts".

A redraft to take account of

(a)-(c) is as follows:

"Judges of the courts of the HKSAR, other than the Chief Justice of the Court of Final of Appeal of the HKSAR, may only be removed for inability to discharge the functions of his/her office, or for misbehaviour, by the CE on the recommendation of a tribunal appointed by the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal and consisting of not fewer than three local judges.

The Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of the HKSAR may only be investigated for inability to discharge the functions of his/her

Remarks

Channels:

Legal experts meeting Zheng Weirong

JLG discussion on the court of final appeal

Actions taken:

This has constantly been raised with the Chinese legal experts.

(a)-(c) Channels:

Legal experts meeting Zheng Weirong BLDC/BLCC interlocutors

Actions taken:

(a)-(c) have been raised with the Chinese legal experts.

CONFIDENTIAL

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'89 10-26 12:07