Registry
No.
SI
RITY CLASSIFICATION
DRAFT
To:-
DSR11
Type 1 +
M.
From Rowlands
Lord Goronwy Roberts-
Telephone No. Ext.
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
......In Confidence
[Flag B]
Mrs Diana Turner
Secretary
Rugby Labour Party 14 Regent Place RUGBY
571178/69
Department
Thank you for your letter of 20 December informing
and
the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary of the resolution passed at your GMC meeting concerning the executions in Bermuda. David Owen has asked me to reply.
As you probably know, Dr Owen made a statement to the House of Commons on 5 December about the situation in
Bermuda. I enclose an extract from Hansard giving the full text of the statement and of the exchanges which followed it. You will see that, under the policy which has been accepted for many years by successive British Governments, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary's scope for inter- vention was limited. The administration of justice in Bermuda is an internal matter, proper to the Bermudian Government. The Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary could only intervene if he had reason to suspect that a miscarriage of justice might take place. In the recent cases, there was nothing in the evidence to suggest that this might happen, and; therefore) Dr Owen felt that there were no grounds on which he could advise Her Majesty The Queen to exercise Her
prerogative of mercy.
However as you will see, in particular from the replies
to the questions raised by Mr Newens, Mr Latham and
Mr Winterton, the Government are prepared to review current policy on the whole complicated question of capital
punishment in the dependent overseas territories if it is Parliament's wish that they should do so.
R
Dd 108087 400M S&K 1/77