TNAG-2878-FCO40-4150-Hong-Kong-Court-of-Final-Appeal-1993 — Page 13

r decision.on

27 July 1993

CONFIDENTIAL

1918

Mr Banken.

Blue Volume XXXXXV(20)

a

to the aucre

з

ра

▼

XCX(93)34 Copy No.

MEMORANDUM FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

COURT OF FINAL APPEA

37018

WRY

¡A 993

DISKY

THE PROBLEM

Work on the drafting of the Bill for establishing the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) is in hand. A number of policy issues need to be resolved to enable the drafting of the legislation to proceed further.

STRY on Taken

RECOMMENDATION AND ADVICE SOUGHT

2

It is recommended that the following policy proposals relating to the appointment, removal and retirement age of permanent judges of the CFA be implemented -

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

that the appointment procedure laid down in the Joint Declaration (JD) and the Basic Law (BL), involving endorsement by the Legislative Council, should be delayed until 1997;

that the appointments by the Governor to the CFA before 1997 should be made in accordance with the recommendations of the Judicial Service Commission;

that the removal procedure envisaged in the JD and the BL, involving endorsement by the Legislative Council and reporting to the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC), should be activated only after the BL has entered into force on 1 July 1997; and

that the retirement age be raised from 65 to 70, with the power of the Governor (later the Chief Executive), on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, to extend to 75 in individual cases.

Members will be asked to advise whether this recommendation should be approved.

Executive Council

(2)