CONFIDENTIAL
petition to The Queen.
4.
Subsequently FCO Ministers decided that there should be
no question of overruling the Governor again. In any subsequent
case a decision would be taken either to support the Governor and
allow the law to take its course, or to change the law by Order in
Council before the Governor's decision was announced. The clearest
PREV expression of this is in Mr Royle's Private Secretary's minute of
10 August. It was however confirmed at a meeting between the
Governor and the Secretary of State on 14 September, at which the
difficulties were also discussed.
168/5)
Flag
Flag
WKK 3/548/14
1973
Flag F
(178) PREV
5.
We are now working to a procedure suggested in Hong Kong
telegram no. 965 whereby the Governor has undertaken to give us
eight weeks' prior notice of his probable decision to let the law
take its course, so that Ministers can during that time decide
whether to support him or to change the law. This has been modified
by introducing a period of consultation with us, before even the
Governor has informal consultations with his Executive Council and
(dat is before the fight weck clock begin
ins to tik)
informs us of his preliminary decision. This has in practice
worked well. We have been able to send him our own informal comments
and those of the Home Office on the basis of the Court records
which have been sent to us well in advance. Since the Tsoi case
we have in each case found good reasons for commutation of
sentence. The Governor has put these to his Executive Council.
They have accepted them, and the prisoner has been reprieved.
This has included, for example, the case of the double murderer,
Lam Po, where there was some possibility of provocation or self-
defence in the second killing, which was all that was then under
consideration.
CONFIDENTIAL
16.
...