Prayers. (Hansard, 2 December 1947)

The boble Earl said
The Amendment which stands in my name is put down in order to obtain from the Secretary of State a statement, which he promised on the Second Reading of the Bill, concerning the compensation which would be pay- 1024 able, or which might become payable to the non-Secretary of State's Services. Since then I have had my attention drawn to the position of the High Court Judges. I think they consist of one Chief Justice and three High Court Judges, other than those of the Indian Civil Service. These Judges were appointed by His Majesty, and usually held office until they reached the age of sixty. There is a provision in the Act which says that a Judge may resign of his own accord, but that if he is removed from office by His Majesty on the ground of misconduct, or of infirmity of mind or body, the case goes to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, who will report back as to whether the Judge should or should not be removed.
There are two questions which concern these Judges. The first relates to pensions, and the second to compensation. As I understand the matter, it is embodied in the Bill that the pensions of the High Court Judges will be met from the revenues of the Republic of Burma. I am not clear, however, as to whether they will receive any compensation and, if so, who will in fact pay the compensation; that is to say, whether it will fall as a charge on the new Republic, or will in fact be met by His Majesty's Government. The reason why I am chiefly concerned about this is that these Judges are having their services summarily ended through no fault of their own. I would ask the noble Earl when he comes to reply to tell us whether His Majesty's Government acknowledge a moral obligation to these Judges who are to be compulsorily retired, as I have said, through no fault of their own. This small Amendment is similar to one moved in another place, and it is put down in order to obtain from the noble Earl a statement about the High Court Judges and the non-Secretary of State's services. I beg to move.

§ THE EARL OF LISTOWEL
I am very much obliged to my noble friend opposite for putting down this Amendment which enables me to make the statement I promised on Second Reading. I would also answer the question, of which he was good enough to give me notice, about the position of the High Court Judges. May I say how grateful I am to the noble Earl 1025 for the keen interest he has taken for a long time in the fate of these officials, and for the extremely courteous and friendly way in which he has handled this important question?
I said on the Second Reading of the Bill that I hoped in Committee to make a further statement as to the position of the non-Secretary of State's officers of the Class I Services in Burma. I added that the Government of Burma had already been invited to reconsider this matter in the light of the debates in another place. I promised to communicate to them the remarks made by several members of your Lordships' House on the occasion of the Second Reading of the Bill. The whole matter has now been reviewed by the Government of Burma in consultation with the Governor, Sir Hubert Rance. I would remind your Lordships that none of the officers with whose cases we are dealing is a servant of the Secretary of State. They are all servants of the Government of Burma by whom they are recruited, and the legal position is that it is for that Government to settle their conditions of service. That does not mean that we have not throughout taken the closest interest in their future. We have indeed taken considerable trouble to indicate to the Government of Burma the very strong feeling which exists in this country and in both Houses of Parliament that they should be equitably treated on the transfer of power.
I think it would be for the convenience of your Lordships that I should explain this very complex matter in the light of the latest reports from Burma. It now appears that there are about forty-three European long-service officers of the non-Secretary of State's Class I Services, of whom thirty are pensionable and thirteen non-pensionable. There are, in addition, some fifty officers, principally in the Railway, Marine and Public Works Departments, on short-term contracts of which the provisions vary. There may—although this is not certain—be one or two Europeans in the Class II Services. There are also about a dozen subordinates of the standing of police sergeants. I am glad to be able to inform your Lordships that, in the light of the discussions in your Lordships' House and in another place, the Government of Burma, while they are not prepared to agree to full compensation on the same basis as for the Secretary of State's Services, now propose certain additional concessions to the officers con- 1026 cerned. They had, as your Lordships will remember, already agreed to give to pensionable officers proportionate pensions on the analogy of those for the Secretary of State's Services. This is a concession, I ought to remind your Lordships, to which these officers are not entitled under their conditions of service.
What the Government of Burma now propose is as follows: First of all, to recalculate proportionate pensions in these cases on the basis of a more generous formula. The effect of the re-calculation, to take a single example, will be to give forest officers, who would have been entitled under their previous formula to a pension of £363 a year, a pension of £393 a year, or £30 a year more. Secondly, they propose to give every such officer, whether he is offered further employment or not, a resettlement grant of £500. Finally, passages for the officers concerned and their dependants will be admissible to the officers concerned as under the Premature Retirement Rules of the Secretary of State's Services. The effect of this is the provision of a single passage for the officer, his wife and his dependent children from the place of his employment in Burma to his place of settlement within the British Empire—whether it be to the United Kingdom or to any other part of the Empire to which he may go. The non-pensionable officers in Class I whose appointments are terminated will receive their Provident Fund balances and all leave due to them. In the case of the railways it is likely—but this matter is still under consideration by the Government of Burma—that they will also receive proportionate gratuities on the analogy of the Rules for the Secretary of State's Services. The Government of Burma propose to grant officers in this category the same resettlement grant of £500 and the same passage concession as will be admissible to the pensionable officers.
I now turn to the class of officer who is engaged on short-term contract. The details of these contracts vary widely and, as they have been entered into direct by the Government of Burma with the officers themselves, their full provisions are not in all cases known to my Department. But it is, I understand, the case that certain of those contracts provide for the termination of service at any time subject to a due period of notice. To those not retained in service the Government of Burma will give all leave due to them and 1027 passages home. Where short-term contracts make provision for notice, pay in lieu will be given where necessary. Where a valid contract is terminated and no provision for notice exists, the Government of Burma are considering further what should be done and there is reason to hope that they will, in such cases, be ready to pay compensation.
There are also the Class II Services which, I would explain to your Lordships, are recruited almost exclusively from the indigenous inhabitants of Burma. We cannot be certain whether there are any Europeans in these Services, but I am glad to say that the Government of Burma have expressed their readiness, if there should be any, to consider their case and have invited the Governor to make proposals for dealing with them. There are also perhaps a dozen police sergeants and it may be one or two other subordinates of the same standing in other Departments. The attention of the Government of Burma has been drawn to the case of these men and the Governor is discussing the steps to be taken for dealing with them. I am glad to say that the Government of Burma have already agreed that any European subordinate of this class whose appointment is terminated on the transfer of power, shall be given a proportionate pension and free passage home. They are still considering whether free passages should, in addition, be provided for their dependants.
I would like, if I may, to summarize the new proposals quite briefly. While the Government of Burma find themselves unable to pay compensation to officers of the non-Secretary of State's Class I Services at the rates fixed for the Secretary of State's Services, they have, in the light of the discussions here and in another place, made substantial concessions to the views expressed. The resettlement grant of £500, the more generous basis of calculation in the case of men who draw proportionate pension, the financial concessions as regards passages home, their readiness to consider the cases of any Europeans in the Class II Services, and to make provision for the police sergeants and other subordinates, are evidence of a real anxiety on their part to see that justice is done and to take full account of the considerations raised by your Lordships during the Second Reading debate.
1028 Now I would like to say a few words about the position of the Judges in the High Court in Rangoon, and I think I ought to inform your Lordships that discussions are still proceeding between His Majesty's Government and the Government of Burma. Therefore, all I can do now is to tell your Lordships about the decisions and agreements that have been made to date. The High Court of Judicature in Rangoon, as at present constituted, will cease to exist on the date of the transfer of power. The Judges, who are appointed by the King, will vacate office on that date. The Government of Burma do not propose to offer re-employment to European Judges but may do so to Burman Judges. It has been agreed that European Judges, on the transfer of power, shall receive pension or proportionate pension, as the case may be, and that they shall also receive compensation on a scale analogous to that laid down for the Burma Civil Service, Class I. The Government of Burma have accepted liability for pension payments. The cost of the compensation payments will initially be borne by His Majesty's Government, leaving the question of incidence to be decided later. The noble Earl will note that His Majesty's Government have undertaken to underwrite the obligation to see that the Judges receive these compensation payments, while the question as to upon whom the obligation will ultimately fall has not yet been decided. These matters are still the subject of correspondence and discussion between the two Governments. No decision has been reached on the question of the terms for those High Court Judges who will continue to function after the transfer of power.

§ THE EARL OF MUNSTER
I am very grateful for the statement which the Secretary of State has made. I noted with some pleasure that at any rate some alteration has been made in the terms which were proposed for the non-Secretary of State's Services. I should naturally like to read the noble Earl's statement carefully when it has been printed. On the question of the High Court Judges, I would merely note that pensions will be payable to them according to the period of time they have served; I am not quite clear what amount of pension they will receive.
1029 So far as I can make out from the noble Earl's statement, the High Court Judges, knowing that their period of service will cease at the beginning of January, are still completely in the dark as to the terms of compensation which will be offered to them when the Republic of Burma becomes a fully-fledged Government. Here again, I should like an opportunity of reading the noble Earl's statement carefully and if necessary of raising the point again, possibly on the Third Reading of the Bill. Perhaps, in passing, I may ask the noble and learned Viscount, the Lord Chancellor, whether he will examine the point and see whether he thinks that men who have reached pension age and who will get no further employment back in this country have been compensated on a fair and equitable basis. Having said that, I beg leave to withdraw my Amendment.

§ THE EARL OF LISTOWEL
I will gladly look into this matter, in consultation with my noble and learned friend on the Woolsack, but I can assure the noble Earl that these Judges will receive full compensation on a similar scale to that received by the officers of the Secretary of State's Class I Service. That scale was set out in the White Paper dealing with compensation.