BACKGROUND NOTE
CONFIDENTIAL
THE CONSTITUTIONAL POSITION
1. There is no written Constitution for the Colony of
Hong Kong. The Governor administers the Colony, assisted
by an Executive Council and a Legislative Council, in
accordance with the powers vested in him by the Letters
Patent and Royal Instructions.
2. Under these Royal Instructions, the Governor has
delegated responsibility for the exercise of the Royal
Prerogative of Mercy (extracts attached). Her Majesty,
however, still retains a residual Prerogative of Mercy and
it is possible for a condemned man from a dependent
territory to petition beyond a Governor to The Queen.
3. The procedure in such cases in the past has been that
the Secretary of State will always advise Her Majesty not
to intervene except in the very rare case of an apparent
miscarriage of justice. This procedure was not followed in
the recent case of Tsoi.
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department
10 July 1973
CONFIDENTIAL