CONFIDENTIAL
iii. United Kingdom Bill to abolish unilaterally.
The United Kingdom Parliament could legislate unilaterally to abolish capital punishment in those Dependent Territories where it is still retained. On purely legal grounds this would be the most desirable solution. It would overcome the present situation whereby the death penalty is retained on the statute book in Depondent Territories, its exercise being administratively
avoided by action in the United Kingdom. It would also have the advantage
of making it clear to the governments and people of the dependencies that
the death penalty will be in suspense while they are dependent upon the United Kingdom. On the other hand, action by the United Kingdom Parliament
would be bitterly resented in the Dependent Territories on the same grounds
that would apply if an attempt were made to instruct Governors to exercise
the prerogative of mercy in all cases. Furthermore legislation would take time to complete; (and at Westminster there could be difficulty arising from
the fact that hitherto the British Government itself has not initiated
legislation on the death penalty.
iv. Legislation by Order in Council
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As an alternative to an Act of Parliament, legislation may be enacted by
Order in Council to abolish capital punishment in relation to any of the
territories concerned except Belize and Bermuda and probably Montserrat. where this would probably be precluded by the rule in Campbell v Hall (1774).
However, the disadvantages are broadly similar to alternative iii, above,
and also to ii above in relation to lack of universality.
luset (i)
V.
Parliamentary Statement abrogating the "Creech Jones" doctrine"
A Statement would be made in Parliament to the effect that the "Creech Jones"
formula for dealing with capital cases in the dependent territories was no
longer regarded as the criterion by which the exercise of the Prerogative
apply to
of Mercy should be governed, and that in future, in each case where a
Governor decided not to exercise the Prerogative himself, including cases
where the prisoner did not petition for mercy, the case would be referred to
the Secretary of State to consider, having regard to all the circumstances,
including the views Parliament has expressed on the use of capital punishment
in the United Kingdom. The Lord Chancellor and the Law Offices
have
advised that it would not be proper for the Secretary of State consistently to advise The Queen to grant a reprieve as this would be equivalent to
changing the law by executive action.
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CONFIDENTIAL