The disadvantage of this solution is that it would tend
to undermine the Goernor's position as the principal
authority concerned, and might lead to more petitions to
the Crown and other pressures on the Secretary of State
than have hitherto been experienced.
12. There would moreover seem to be little object in
departing from the Creech-Jones practice unless as a result
the Secretary of State found himself free to commute the
death sentence in every case so as effectively to abolish
or suspend capital punishment in the DOTS concerned. But
there are serious constitutional objections to achieving
this result otherwise than by way of legislation. It would
be unconstitutional for the Secretary of State, under the
guise of exercising the Crown's residual prerogative, in
effect to suspend the law in each of the DOTS concerned
providing for capital punishment. Accordingly, even if
there were a departure from the Creech-Jones practice, the
Secretary of State would still be bound to consider each
case as it arose on its merits, and decide in the light of
all relevant circumstances whether or not the advise the
Crown to commute. It is very unlikely that the Governor
concerned, in deciding that the law should take its course,
would have overlooked any relevant circumstance and, even
if he had done so, he would speedily review his own
decision when that
circumstance was brought to his notice.
15. Thus a departure from the Creech-Jones practice should
not, in principle, produce any different number of commuted
cases than would result from a continuance of the present
practice. (As respects the Associated States, there is in
any event no scope for a new practice since their
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