MOTION FOR THE WHITSUN ADJOURNMENT
CREECH-JONES FORMULA
SPEAKING NOTE
1. Under a policy enunciated in 1947 by the then Decretary of State for the Colonies, hir Arthur Creech- Jones, and followed since then by successive British Governments, the Secretary of State does not advise Her Majesty to intervene in capital, or other crasinal cases in the Dependent Overseas Territories, except in the very rare event that a miscarriage of justice might otherwise take place. This policy is based on the reasoning that the Governor and his advisers, being on the spot, are much better placed to form a judgement based on all aspects of a case than is the Secretary of State. The Creech-Jones policy is con- sidered not to apply however in the unique circumstances of Hong Kong. Hong kong is a territory where the legislature is not democratically elected by the local population. In all of the other territories where capital punishment is retained there are democratically elected local legislatures, which have in every case confirmed the decision not to abolish the death penalty.