L Oates
Head of Legislation Group
Dear Walts
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Mr Edwards, Legal Advs. Mr Wye, FED
Allll
0
I
نقله تا 2)
pa.
Spo
26-28 OLD QUEEN STREET
LONDON SWIH 9HP
FHKB 371/2 Telephone 01:210
3519
15 March 1989
४
MUTUAL JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT WITH THE
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Your letter of 9 March to Derek Oulton has been passed to me, and I
am responding straightaway in view of the fact that the Attorney
General is about to depart for China.
I am delighted to think that the Attorney General will be able to
refer to this matter in the course of his visit. I believe that he
can assure his hosts of our continued commitment to the project,
although no specific timetable should be mentioned.
I see the background which I should record here for your information
as follows. It may be helpful first to note that the proposal for
a legal co-operation agreement with China was originally put forward
by a firm of English solicitors (Coward Chance). This department has
been showing interest since 1987 and has since then been advising on
the possible scope and nature of an agreement. As you mention, the
Lord Chancellor gave his approval in principle in July 1988. It was
not possible to make any progress before December 1988 when Richard
White replaced Michael Carpenter as the responsible official here.
I know that White has since discussed this project with Claire Smith
of the FCO on the telephone, repeating our interest and saying that
he proposed to assess priorities generally. Tom Legg and I agreed
in early February with White's proposal that the China agreement
should be one of the main priorities for his division during the
A D Watts (Esq)
Esg
Legal Adviser
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London
SW1A 2AH
1
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.