BACKGROUND NOTE
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1. The so-called "Creech-Jones formula" which is a statement
of the policy under which the Secretary of State does not intervene in cases where a petition for clemency in capital cases from dependent overseas territories has been rejected by the Governor of the dependency to whom the Prerogative of Mercy has been delegated, was first enunciated by the then Secretary of
State for the Colonies, Mr Arthur Creech-Jones in a Parliamentary Reply on 11 August 1947 (Hansard Cols 230-233). The following
are the extracts;
2.
Key
"The normal practice of the Secretary of State for the
Colonies is himself not to intervene in an individual case
and not to advise His Majesty to intervene. There would be most unfortunate results if the Secretary of State followed
any other course. First, it would be necessary for him to consider fully the facts of each case and all the considera- tions which bore upon it.
but further, and more important, for the Secretary of State to intervene would conflict with the plain intention of the constitutional instruments ... which set up a better machinery for deciding these matters than anything the Secretary of State could do here; and would be contrary to the common sense of the situation, since the Governor, knowing all the circumstances is in a better position to judge whether the Prerogative of Mercy should be exercised in any particular case."
Since the death penalty was abolished in this country, successive Governments have urged the dependent territories to follow suit. All but seven have done so. These are: Belize,
Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands. In all these territories the Prerogative of Mercy has been delegated to the Governor.