TNAG-2878-FCO40-4150-Hong-Kong-Court-of-Final-Appeal-1993 — Page 43

· 2 -

change in the political climate with more people calling for the CFA's establishment before 1997.

Ming Pao (10.6) quoted Government sources as saying that it was difficult to set a timetable as drafting of legislation took time. He stressed that the Government's stand remained that the CFA should be set up as soon as possible, and that it was most important to have good judges and the maintenance of an independent judicial system, rather than a number of overseas judges. The Chinese side would be consulted on details during the drafting.

In a report (15.6), the United Daily said judicial and legal circles were concerned about the appointment of local judges to the CFA. Quoting a Legal Department source, the paper said local judges on the CFA would probably be promoted from the Court of Appeal. The paper quoted a High Court judge as questioning the Government's plan to recruit a Commonwealth judge to the Court of Appeal when one of its judges retired this year.

Chinese Officials

The papers reported (9.6) that HKMAO Director Lu Ping, in a reply to legislator and HK affairs adviser Allen Lee, said the JLG agreement could not be amended. Mr Lu was quoted as saying that the Chinese side was sincere about implementing the agreement. But if the British side was not able to implement it, the Chinese side would set up the CFA according to the BL after 1997. After a meeting with Mr Lu in Peking on June 24, Meeting Point Vice-chairman Lee Chik-yuet quoted Mr Lu as agreeing that the CFA should be set up as soon as possible.

Referring to Mr Lu's reply, NCNA HK Branch Vice-Director Zhu Yucheng reaffirmed the Chinese stand on abiding by the JLG agreement, the papers reported on (10.6).

A Chinese legal expert on the JLG sub-group on the CFA, Prof Wu Jianfan, stressed on two occasions that the JLG agreement could not be amended, and linked it to China's sovereign rights. The SCMP (10.6) reported that in response to Exco Member Prof Edward Chen's suggestion that subsidiary legislation be introduced to allow more overseas judges on the CFA, Prof Wu saw such a proposal as an attempt to amend the Sino-British agreement. "It will be futile for the HK Government to call for flexibility on the number of overseas judges by playing with the wording or language of the law," he said. He urged Britain to resume consultations with China on the draft Bill on the court. In an interview with SCMP and Wah Kiu Yat Po (14.6), Prof Wu said although the number of overseas judges was not stipulated in the JD and the BL, the court's establishment was under the Central Government's jurisdiction and could not be decided by the SAR alone. The question of overseas judges must be understood according to spirit and particulars of the BL, rather than interpreted arbitrarily or out of context. He refuted legislator Simon Ip's suggestion that the JLG agreement on the CFA would become invalid in 1997, pointing out that the JLG would be in place until 2000.

the

2