ENG-1963 — Page 448

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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some 30 departments, all the officers of which are members of the Civil Service. A list of these departments is given in Appendix II.

The Colonial Secretariat, under the general administrative con- trol of the Deputy Colonial Secretary, co-ordinates the work of departments and makes, or transmits from the Governor, the Governor in Council, or the Colonial Secretary, all general policy decisions. The Secretariat consists of six divisions dealing with general administration, lands, Councils, finance, defence and establishment matters. The Financial Secretary is responsible for financial and economic policy; the Defence Secretary advises on defence, co-ordinates the work of the local forces (described in chap- ter 20) and acts as the main channel of communication between Government and Her Majesty's Armed Forces stationed in the Colony. The Secretariat includes a Political Adviser seconded from the Foreign Office.

The Government's principal legal adviser is the Attorney General, who is the head of the Legal Department and is also responsible for drafting legislation and for instituting and con- ducting public prosecutions. The Attorney General is assisted by the Solicitor General, Principal Crown Counsel and Crown Counsel.

The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is the Governor's principal adviser on all matters connected with the Chinese population. He is also specifically charged with the responsibility of maintaining direct channels of communication between Government and all levels of Chinese society in urban Hong Kong. In addition, with the assistance of his department, the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, he discharges a number of statutory duties including the chairman- ship of certain boards and committees (which are for the most part Chinese in composition), administration of the District Watch Force and Tenancy Inquiry Bureaux, and a variety of licensing and registration duties. Other traditional responsibilities include those of arbitration in domestic or tenancy disputes, and the provi- sion of his good offices should there be any major misunderstand- ing between another department and some section of the Chinese public on other than purely professional or technical matters. He also has the important duty of providing direct liaison with villagers in semi-rural areas on Hong Kong Island and in New Kowloon. The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is responsible for the