CONFIDENTIAL
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above policy remains unaltered there are no grounds for intervention in the present case. Nor would it be appropriate for an exception to be made in this case in the absence of any public statement which might foreshadow action by HMG to secure the abolition of capital punishment throughout the Dependent Territories.
3. Under the paragraph headed "Possible courses of action" the sequence of items (a), (ii) and (iii) should be transposed.
4. Under sub-paragraph (a)(i) attention should be drawn to the fact that while it is theoretically possible for HMG to take steps to initiate the introduction of local legislation, in some cases it might not be politic to do so, and in others (i.e. those with ministerial forms of government and with unofficial majorities) we could not guarantee the passage of the local legislation.
5.
Action in the United Kingdom could take the form of either an Act of Parliament or the making of Orders in Council in relation to each territory. Both courses are open to objection if they are used to enforce changes which are locally unacceptable.
6. Both forms of administrative action proposed as means of securing reprieves in all capital cases appear to be inconsistent with the continued existence of Royal Instructions or Letters Patent which instruct Governors to exercise the Prerogative of Mercy on behalf of Her Majesty in their own deliberate judgement. It is possible that any despatch to Governors intimating that they should grant reprieves in all capital cases would be inconsistent with existing policy on the exercise of the Prerogative of Mercy and at the same time be inconsistent with the Criminal Law of those Dependent Territories which impose capital sentence for murder.
7. Under Section 27 of the Bahamas Constitution which provides for the establishment of an Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, sub-Section 6 provides that "in the exercise of his functions under this Section the Governor shall act in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister. 11
8.
The British Honduras Letters Patent 1964 Section 28 requires the Governor to consult an Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy when any person has been sentenced to death before deciding in his own judgement whether to exercise the Prerogative of Mercy.
QONFIDENTIAL