iii.
CONFIDENTIAL
Abolition through the Exercise of the Prerogative of Mercy
It would be possible to withdraw the delegation
of the Prerogative of Mercy to Governors, and the
Secretary of State could as a matter of practice,
advise Her Majesty in the exercise of Her residual
Prerogative of Mercy to accede to all petitions
for clemency to Her. Even if the Secretary of
State were prepared in certain cases to advise
Her Majesty not to intervene, once it became known,
as it quickly would, that Her Majesty might be
advised to grant reprieves for reasons connected
with the state of opinion in the United Kingdom on
the merits of capital punishment, all persons condemned
to death in the Dependent Territories would invariably
petition Her Majesty for mercy. The effect would be
for practical purposes to transfer responsibility
for the exercise of the Prerogative to the Secretary of
State. To transfer the Prerogative in this way, or
for the Secretary of State invariably to advise Her
Majesty to grant reprieves might be construed as a
limitation on the Prerogative itself and raise a
Constitutional issue in the United Kingdom.
RECOMMENDATION
5. In view of the disadvantages attached to each of the
alternative options, and the known views of the Elected Legislatures
of the Dependent Territories concerned, I recommend
5
CONFIDENTIAL
/that we should