Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
CONFIDENTIAL
DRAFT LETTER
To:-
Type 1 +
FROM
Sir Duncan Watson
Confidential,
Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
Sir Murray MacLehose KCMG MBE Governor Hong Kon
DEATH PENALTY IN HONG KONG
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
You will see from my separate confidential letter
in the same bag that Ministers have decided to take
no steps to alter the existing law in Hong Kong (or
in the other dependent territories either). They
explicitly accepted the possibility of further
executions in Hong Kong, and their request for
information on the growth of capital crimes was made
in the context of the need to override criticism in
Parliament in that event.
Nevertheless Ministers have no (and indeed could
not) finally rule out the possibility of further
reprieves by The Queen in circumstances other than a
miscarriage of justice. They said that although, for
the sake of good order in the Colony, it was importunt
to uphold you in your decisions, the attitude of
Parliament would make it necessary to scrutinise
most carefully any cases which might in future be
the subject of petitions to The Queen.
*
All this happened before we received your
telegrams numbers 788 and 789. You will, I am sure,
welcome the general decision, and even the
reservation on the ultimate possibility of reprieves
by The Queen may not surprise you. It was inherently
/unlikely
(17260) Dd.897459 400m 12/72_G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863
(16940) Dd.897300 400m 9/72 G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863
CONFIDENTIAL