TNAG-1922-FCO40-2727-Future-of-the-judiciary-in-Hong-Kong-1989 — Page 120

HKB 373/1

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

20

From The Minister of State

Dear David,

8 February 1989

Mr Moms 1012

Rnz

Miss Merodena IL,

Mr Fasyman

Jah

alz

Thank you for your letter of 21 January enclosing copies of Petitions about career prospects which the Court Interpreters' Association of Hong Kong sent to the Governor and Chief Secretary. I am most grateful to you for drawing this matter to my attention. I agree with you that it is most desirable that the judicial system in Hong Kong should continue to function smoothly.

As I am sure you will appreciate, this is a matter which falls within the responsibility of the Hong Kong authorities. I have therefore conveyed to them your concern about the potential seriousness of the situation.

The Hong Kong Government attach great importance to the terms and conditions of employment of all their staff, including Court Interpreters. They are well aware of the Court Interpreters' Association's discontent about the promotion prospects of their members and are examining the situation very carefully in close consultation with the staff

But they take the view concerned, to see what can be done. that the creation of any additional senior posts needs to be justified on its merits and not by analogy with other grades.

You may be interested to know that a recent survey of the Court Interpreter grade, based largely upon expert advice provided by the Chinese language division of the Government secretariat, has already made a number of recommendations for upgrading and increasing the number of Court Interpreter posts. In particular the survey recommended the upgrading of four posts of Court Interpreter I to Senior Court Interpreter to deal with complex cases and the creation of two additional posts of Senior Court Interpreter to strengthen supervision of Court Interpreters I and II. However, these recommendations have been rejected by the Court Interpreters' Association which has demanded the upgrading of all posts in the High Court to Senior Interpreter.

David Mudd Esq MP

House of Commons

LONDON

SW1A OAA

The Hong Kong Government

Page 120Page 121