05-JUN-1992 12:03
PAUL FIFOOT
0372723755
officers concerned: notwithstanding that the Hong Kong Government allow a longer period in which to opt for the new judicial pension terms, if you wish to apply for membership of HMOCS you must do so before a particular date ("the second deadline") and since you can only be considered for HMOCS if you are on p and p terms, you will have to take such steps to ensure
ensure you qualify in that respect before the
second deadline.
8. Taking the proposition set out in paragraph 7 as a basis, there would appear to be the following options:
(a) stand on the original position with regard to the qualifying first deadline that no officer in the Judiciary will be eligible to apply for membership of HMOCS unless he had been first appointed before 28th March 1985. Our argument for so acting would be that the Secretary of State had not been consulted about the withdrawal of Circular 6/95 and its consequences Cur IIMOCS and was not bound by it. However, in view of the withdrawal of Circular 6/85, and in the absence of any other warning by the Secretary of State, this would obviously defeat existing expectations. In addition, we have not acted consistently with such a position in that we have admitted two members of the Judiciary to HMOCS notwithstanding that they
they were appointed later
than that date.
(b) impose a new first deadline before 15th April 1992 relying on the same argument, but taking into accouAL that some had benefitted
the from administrative failure to impose the 28th March 1985 deadline and that it would only be equitable to permit others in the same position to benefit
benefit also.
No particular date suggests itself satisfactorily, though one possibility would be
later of the dates of appointment of the two officers referred
in to subparagraph (a) above. Like (a), this course would defeat expectations and would be retroactive in its application.
the
(c) adopt 15th April 1992 as the first deadline. This should not involve the defeat of any expectations or be, in substance, retroactive.
(d) as regards the second deadline for applying for membership of IIMOCS, the possible courses are to maintain the present date of 30th June 1992 or to offer a later date.
The present date is only three weeks away and will be much less by the time HKG has been consulted (and as appears from paragraph 9 below, there is a further issue which has to be considered before we could reasonably ask people to opt) and the officers informed of it. Even though there are so few people involved that they could be informed individually and it is possible that the Registrar may have put them on warning following the memoranda from the Secretary of the Civil Service of 15th April 1992, the present date looks too soon.
However, I do not think that any substantial delay is necessary in fixing a
fixing a new date. The new judicial pensions ordinance has been un Statute Book since 1988 and was been explained in
the
11-
P.04/05
No comments yet.
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