TNAG-2695-FCO40-3901-Hong-Kong-Judiciary-and-judicial-appointments-1993 — Page 58

WJEMTEMT HJUSE HUIU AUT

fu HAA 373/1

布政司署

144

# # T

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

54

#2 I

鐵道

-CMX OUR HEF

TIMM YOur Ref

(58) in CSO/ADM/CR 3/3222/88(93) IV

mrimmed af: (sent to sBrook)

+ back homepl.

Ms Bridget Paris

Hong Kong Department

8 July 1993

вр

BP 917.

HKA 373/1

L. AUG 1993

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

United Kingdom

Dear mus pair's,

Judicial officers (Tenure of office) Ordinance

41

Amendments to the Letters

Patent and Colonial Regulations

I refer to the third paragraph of my letter to you of 6 July 1993 regarding the proposed amendments to the Colonial Regulations (CRs).

I have consulted the Attorney General's Chambers and the Judiciary here about your Legal Counsellor's suggested changes to CR 54 (6) and your query about the "consequential amendment" to CR 65.

Our views are as follows :-

(a)

we are concerned about changing the existing reference in CR 54(6) from "Regulations 54 to 66" to "Regulations 56 to 66". This would imply that all judicial officers are still employed at the pleasure of the Crown and that the Governor could still exercise some regulatory power under CR 54 (2). This is clearly not the case or the intention. No doubt that is why the present CR 54 (6) expressly excludes CRS

and 55. Furthermore, we do not see a conflict between CR 54 (6) and Article XIV (1) because that

expressly contemplates

Article

54

derogation from itself by containing the words", unless

otherwise provided by law, ".

We think that the CRS and our new Judicial Officers (Tenure of Office) Ordinance would qualify as "law"; and

/Cont'd