!
1.4. On the assumption that the Government of the Colony and the British Government will agree that litigation must be started in the Conseil d'Etat, Mrs. Masse raised again the issue of the capacity of the Government of the Colony of Hong Kong to start such action.
No conclusive angwer could be made in May 1992 when the problem was addressed briefly and it was solved by lodging the Gracious Request on behalf of both the Government of the Colony and the Government of the United Kingdom. In view of a contentious step, it is not possible anymore to avoid the problem : the manner in which the initial filing in the Conseil d'Etat will be made may be decisive especially if the Conseil d'Etat, upon possible pressure from the French authorities, tries to avoid deciding the case on an argument of procedure.
Mrs. Masse thus requested that she be supplied with the statutory texts providing for the status of the Colony and for its international representation by the British Government plus any case law that may exist, and confirmation of the conditions in which the Extradition Request was presented. Presumably, as it is signed by the Governor of the Colony of Hong Kong and made in his name, it was only transmitted to the French Government by the British Embassy in Paris. Presumably as well, the question of the Government (Hong Kong or U.K.) which should present the Extradition Request was studied in 1990 and opinions on the subject may be retrieved from the files of the Attorney General.
As the application to the Conseil d'Etat should preferably be made within the next 10 days the urgent attention of those involved is required by Mrs. Masse.
2. Meeting with Mr. McGregor
2.1. Mr. McGregor confirmed that the British Government does not have objections ag a matter of principle to litigating in the Conseil d'Etat. Further conversations took place in the status of the case, the reasons of the French Government etc.
Mr. McGregor informed us that he had had an informal talk with a member of the Cabinet of Mr. Georges Kiejman, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, who would have said that the French Government would "understand" that the British Government refer the matter to the Conseil d'Etat and this would not cause diplomatic uneasiness.
2.2. Mrs. Masse stated that she needs, as a matter of urgency, two letters from the Government of the Colony (the Attorney General or a person who could sign in his place) and from the British Embassy in Paris to the effect that she is officially authorised to lodge an obligation in the Conseil d'Etat. I understand from Carolyn Martin that this has been discussed with Mr. Grossman and is only a matter of days as far as the Government of the Colony is concerned. It could be useful if the office of the Attorney General in Hong Kong could remind the British Embassy of the urgent need for a letter from the Embassy to the same effect and with the same wording as that agreed for Hong Kong.
2.3. After our meeting, I had a brief conversation with Mrs. Masse and we agreed that the conversation between Mr. McGregor and the Cabinet of Mr. Kiejman may prove a little insufficient to apply renewed pressure on the French Government. We consider that whilst it is imperative that we continue to argue at a technical level with the civil servants of the Ministry of
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BAT/DEW/200/NXXO
t/s'd ¿RSL #
SIMMA MAMYLIN
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