Page:Hong Kong Letters Patent 1917 to 1995.pdf/103



(a) such person as may be designated under Our Sign Manual and Signet or        by instructions given by Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State; or

(b) if there is no person in the Colony so designated and able to perform those functions, the person lawfully discharging the functions of       Chief Secretary. (Amended on 17 February 1977)

(2) Before assuming the functions of the office of Governor for the first time, any person as aforesaid shall make the oaths directed by Article III of these Our Letters to be made by the holder thereof.

(3) Any such person as aforesaid shall not continue to perform the functions of the office of Governor after the holder thereof, or some other person having a prior right to perform those functions, has notified him that he is about to resume, or assume, those functions.

(4) The holder of the office of Governor or any other person as aforesaid shall not, for the purposes of this Article, be regarded as absent from the Colony or as unable to perform the functions of that office at any time when there is a subsisting appointment of a Deputy under Article XVIIA of these Our Letters. (Replaced on 17 November 1967)

ARTICLE XVIIA – Deputy to Governor
(1) Whenever the Governor-

(a) has occasion to be absent from the Colony for a period which he has reason to believe will be of short duration; or

(b) is suffering from any illness which he has reason to believe will be        of short duration; or

(c) considers for any reason that the public interest so requires, he may by instrument under the Public Seal appoint a person to be his Deputy and in that capacity to perform on his behalf such of the functions of       the office of Governor as may be specified in such instrument.

(2) The powers and authority of the Governor shall not be abridged, altered or in any way affected by the appointment of a Deputy under this Article and a Deputy shall comply with all instructions which the Governor may address to him, but the question whether a Deputy has in any matter complied with such instructions shall not be enquired into by any court.

(3) Any appointment under this Article may be revoked at any time by Us by instructions given by Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State or by the Governor by instrument under the Public Seal, and subject thereto a person appointed under this Article shall hold that appointment for such period as may be specified in the instrument by which he is appointed. (Amended on 17 November 1967)