CONFIDENTIAL
J
ai
Hong Kong 1966, Montserrat 1960 and the Turks and
Caicos Islands 1946.
8. The position in Hong Kong is anomalous in that, since
1973 (when the Secretary of State advised the Crown
in the Tsoi case to exercise the residual prerogative
in the light of Parliamentary factors quite
unconnected with Hong Kong or the case itself), the
Governor, has in practice followed a policy of
commuting all capital sentences, even when no
mitigating factors exist. In effect, this means that
the law has been suspended by executive action.
Public reaction to this is believed to have been some-
what lessened by a policy subsequently announced by the
Governor in the Legislative Council, that murderers
whose sentences are commuted will be imprisoned for
life.
9. It is relevant to note here that although capital
punishment for murder has been abolished in the United
Kingdom (and in Guernsey), it is retained for murder in
Jersey and the Isle of Man.
Responsibility for
tendering advice on the exercise of the prerogative
in capital cases rests entirely with the Home Secretary
since the Lieutenant Governors of the Islands, unlike
the Governors of the DOT's, have no delegated authority
in such cases. The Home Secretary offers advice
according to the circumstances of each individual case.
In the Isle of Man only one sentence of death has been
passed since 1872 and that (in 1973) was commuted,
while for Jersey the last execution for murder took
place in 1959, since when six death sentences have been
commuted.
'I F
/10.
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