TNAG-2153-FCO40-3072-Limited-compensation-scheme-for-judicial-officers-in-Hong-Ko-1990 — Page 2

CONFIDENTIAL

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

Telephone 01-

HKC 233

23311

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

12FEB 1990

DESK OFFICE)

VT EX

t

4 14/2

STRY

Mrs C Willis

Secretary, Civil Service Branch

Government Secretariat

HONG KONG

бюст Сатя

Your reference

Our reference

Date

8 January 1989

LIMITED COMPENSATION SCHEME FOR JUDICIAL OFFICERS

1. Thank you for your letter of 26 June 1989. I regret the delay in replying but we wished to consult our Legal Advisers and the proposals contained in your letter have proved to be more

complicated than we had at first envisaged. Our comments are set out below.

2.

You do not say in your letter whether the Chief Justice has been consulted about your proposals. I imagine it will be important for him to be given an opportunity to comment.

3. It is not clear what precisely the draft paper enclosed with your letter is supposed to represent. Is it simply an outline for an Ordinance or some kind of local order which we assume will be necessary, in due course. In any event, the terms used in paragraph 1(b) and (c) should perhaps be expanded somewhat. not clear, on the face of it, what "localisation" means in this context. Nor is the reference to nationality clear in paragraph 1(c).

It is

We

4. You do not say whether this scheme, nor the scheme in operation for the Civil Service generally, is intended to last beyond 1997, and to be implementable by the SAR Government. assume that the intention is that it would. The question therefore arises as to how best to ensure that scheme will remain effective throughout the period for which it is intended to last. While it is clear that the scheme for the Civil Service generally is currently an administrative one, we wonder whether you might consider enshrining the two schemes in legislation so that there is at least some additional protection for those who may be affected by it. We appreciate that the classic way of dealing with this kind of problem, namely the enactment of a UK Order in Council backed up by a Public Officers Agreement with the successor government is not feasible for Hong Kong.

No British

law will outlast 1997 and there is currently no plan for the UK to

If an enter into a Public Officers Agreement with China. ordinance were to be considered it could be carried forward under Article 159 of the Basic Law but, of course, that would provide no protection if the Hong Kong SARG wished to abandon the scheme.

PUGAAY