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circumstances, but also of any legal or circumstantial oddities which might offer grounds for criticism, however specious.
5
If, in a case in which there were any such mitigating factors or oddities, the Governor were to insist that his formal decision-in- Council must be that the law should take its course, the only result could be a decision in London to abolish the death sentence in Hong Kong.
6
There is room for two quite different views of such an eventuality. One is that it would be completely wrong so to over-ride the wishes of the vast majority of the population; that the act of abolition would provoke a most undesirable confrontation with H. M. G. which would be bad for public confidence; and finally that it would re-arouse fears of violent crime at a time when great efforts have been made to still them with some success.
7
But another view could be that even a Conservative Government, and certainly a Labour Government, would never agree to an execution in any case, and that abolition would thus be in accordance with constitu- tional realities. Further, that it is so long since an execution took place that nobody in Hong Kong now expects one to do so. Finally, abolition would extract Honourable Members from the present highly distasteful situation in which they are held responsible by the public for reprieves which some feel to be against public interest and their own conscience.
My personal view is that while there could be cases in which there could be no alternative but to insist that, while the death penalty is returned, the law must take its course, the repercussions of forcing a situation in which H.M. G. abolished the death sentence would be so serious that we should avoid doing so as long as we reasonably can.
Against this background I would be grateful for Honourable Members informal advice about the case of LAM Po. Eventually the case will be submitted to Honourable Members for their formal and substantive advice. But before I give the Secretary of State a forecast of what the decision-in-Council is likely to be I should be grateful for Honourable Members' informal opinion.
10
The case is an unusual one and I attach a note by the Honourable the Attorney General in addition to the normal papers.
11
This item will not be on the Agenda and no minute will be recorded. I will raise it in "Other Business" on 27th November 1973.
16th November 1973 (CR 6/2647/71)
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