Private Secretary
Secretary
CONFIDENTIAL
DEATH PENALTY IN HONG KONG
1.
~' watts.
(58)
Secretary of State
1匹
Thankaya that it wright
to have arkad
der
cpergoluctivisti refort-
сродови
1.6
The Deputy Under-Secretary and Assistant Under-Secretary in the Home Office concerned with these matters are unobtainable until later this afternoon, and I have accordingly spoken to Mr Prior, the Assistant Secretary who deals with these matters.
2. So far as concerns psychiatric reports on a prisoner, Mr Prior told me that it was the practice to give consideration to any factors which were relevant to the mental condition of the prisoner, and if appropriate to order that a medical enquiry should take place. This was, however, only done if there was some occasion for wondering about the prisoner's mental state.
held
3. When a medical enquiry was held it took the form of an enquiry by a panel of highly qualified experts, usually three people, one of whom would be the Senior Medical Officer at Broadmoor, another an independent outside psychiatrist of high repute, while the third would often be a member of the Prison Medical Service.
4. Although there is nothing specific, as far as I know, in the papers which gives us occasion for wondering about Mr Tsoi's mental state, the fact is that our papers seem to reveal no report by a medically qualified person as to his mental state. Mr Prior explained that in this country prisoners were as a matter of course kept under medical observation, and there would normally be in the papers something to indicate his general mental state. Against this background, the practice of not instituting a medical enquiry unless there is some occasion for thinking that the prisoner's mental state might be open to question makes sense but in our present case, where we appear to have no medical evidence at all, it would seem to me reasonable to make enquiry of the matter even though we have no specific ground on which to question the prisoner's mental state.
5. As to the final stage of the matter, where the Secretary of State tenders advice to the Queen, the Home Office practice has been to make a fairly full submission (usually running to about two foolscap pages, double spacing) to the Palace setting out the circumstances of the case and giving in fairly full form the considerations which have led the Home Secretary to recommend a reprieve. If it is a question of the Law taking
CONFIDENTIAL
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