THE man widely tipped to be Hongkong's next Director of Public Prosecutions has backed calls for a local to be promoted to the top job. After yesterday's formal ceremony to mark his call to the Inner Bar, Mr Clive Grossman, a prosecutor in the Attorney-General's chambers, said he believed it was right for a local Chinese to fill Mr John Wood's shoes. Whoever succeeds Mr Wood has to wait a year, as his three-year contract has been extended until mid-1994. Mr Grossman, who heads the Commercial Crime Unit and holds the rank of Deputy Crown Prosecutor, was one of six new Queen's Counsels to take silks yesterday. The others were Ms Audrey Eu, Mr Gary Alderdice, Mr Gary Plowman, Mr Geoffrey Ma and Mr Kenneth Kwok, bringing the number of silks in Hongkong to 42. The Attorney-General Mr Jeremy Mathews, judges and leading legal figures attended the ceremony, along with families and friends of the new silks. Mr Grossman, who is known to be interested in going to private bar or higher bench, says he will consider the job if offered it, but says it is only one option. He stressed there were many able candidates, and believed a local should get priority. Legislator Mr Simon Ip Sik-on and chairman of the Hongkong Bar Association Miss Jacqueline Leong, QC, called on the Government to search hard for a Chinese replacement before appointing another expatriate. ''There are lots of local people who are eminently suitable for top jobs. If one cannot be found in time, perhaps Mr Grossman could have a short-term contract to allow for a local to be placed for a smooth transition in 1997,'' Mr Ip said. Miss Leong said ''it depends on what sort of basis he takes over, whether it is until '97 or as an interim measure until someone else is appointed''. At yesterday's ceremony she said the judiciary would be the lynchpin of Hongkong's promised future under the Joint Declaration. ''If Hongkong is to have the calibre of judges that it needs and deserves, then the community must nurture its legal system which includes its strong and independent Bar.''
