PERSONAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London S.W.1
His Excellency
Mr R N Posnett OBE
Governor and Commander-in-Chief
Belize
28 June 1974
pw.
JUL1974
921
LG
Dear Dick.
NKK N
EXERCISE OF THE PREROGATIVE OF MERCY IN CAPITAL CASES
As
1. During the recent visit of the Governor of Hong Kong to London the Secretary of State discussed with him the exercise of the prerogative of mercy in capital cases. you know from previous correspondence this has given rise to special problems in Hong Kong, which differs constitutionally from other Dependent Territories in which the death penalty for murder is retained in that there is no elected legislature. The Secretary of State was certain that if he advised The Queen not to exercise Her residual prerogative of mercy following a petition to Her, and thus became personally responsible for allowing a hanging to take place in Hong Kong, and if his decision were questioned in Parliament, he would be unable to command a majority there.
2.
It was not clear from the discussion whether the Secretary of State would take a similar view in relation to a dependent territory in which there are elected representatives in the legislature. We have decided that it would not be right to put this to the test hypothetically; but if an actual case arises (eg if Al Moore's appeal is dismissed) we may well wish to do so. The right time to submit to the Secretary of State will then probably be between the rejection of the final appeal and the consideration of the case by the Governor's Advisory Council.
3. All this underlines the importance of keeping us (as you have been doing) promptly posted on the progress of any capital case in which a Governor may be called upon to exercise his delegated prerogative of mercy. But with the Al Moore case pending, it would also be helpful if you could let us know how long it normally takes for a capital case to reach your Advisory Council after the final judicial appeal has been dismissed, and whether, and if so by how long, you could if necessary contrive to extend that period to provide
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CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL