TNAG-2694-FCO40-3900-Hong-Kong-Judiciary-and-judicial-appointments-1993 — Page 53

assistant administrator.

It will be necessary to change the management

structure below him to get the best spread of responsibility and the

clearest reporting chains.

32.

The Senior Master should assume all the Registrars' legal

functions with some delegation to the Masters but the Senior Master and

the Masters should be relieved of all administrative duties and left

only with their important judicial work and the legal duties. The

demands on the Masters have become heavier and without some change an

additional Master might have been needed. Under these proposals the

Senior Master and the three Masters should see how heavy the load will

be when they are relieved of all administrative responsibility.

would expect that the Senior Master would have more time for judicial

work and that the Masters would continue to help on legal work such as

proposals for law reform.

33.

I

It will be necessary to work cut details of structure and

distribution of duties but they should follow the line that the

functions of the Senior Master and Masters are purely legal and that

the functions of the Administrator and his assistant are purely

administrative..

In future an occupant of either of the latter two

posts should normally be regarded as having settled on either a career

or final posting in administration and not on the bench.

Co-ordination

34.

So far an important element is missing from these proposals

for better administration. It is co-ordination. Without it, advice

goes up to the Chief Justice from each' chief judicial officer and the

administrator, and directions and guidance come down, but the Chief

Justice is not helped to make the Judiciary's policies and no

organisation can be run without policy

of his edvisers.

without the collective advice

Nor can one adviser be of much help without knowing

something about the thinking of the others.

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