VOLUME 8
12.4
RESTRICTED
12.4
12.5
REPRESENTATIONS FROM PERSONS OUTSIDE THE DTs
The reply to representations about the exercise of the Prerogative of Mercy from any person not resident in the DT should be "in (Dependent Territory), as in other DTs, the Prerogative of Mercy has been delegated by Her Majesty to the OAG who takes als wecision Mercy
takes his decision in each case after (Committee in the consulting his Executive Council, the exercise of this responsibility is a matter in which the Secretary of State would rarely intervene and he is not prepared to do so in this case".
12.5
12.5.1
JUDICIAL COMMITTEE OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL
Appeals may be brought before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council against decisions of the Courts of a DT with special leave of the Judicial Committee or, (in civil cases only), with the leave of the local Court.
12.5.2 Legal Executive Branch is responsible for instructing London solicitors on behalf of the overseas Government in appeals which involve the Crown. The Branch also takes any other necessary FCO action. Papers concerning such appeals should be referred to the Branch without delay.
12.5.3 Appeals which involve the Crown are mostly in criminal cases, and of these the majority are brought on behalf of persons under sentence of death. Both in the public interest and in the interest of the prisoners themselves, the interval between sentence and execution should not be unnecessarily prolonged. There are therefore rules in DTs under which, where a prisoner intends to petition for special leave to appeal, execution of sentence will be postponed only for the period necessary for the petition to be lodged, and thereafter until the final decision of the Judicial Committee is known.
12.5.4
An indigent person may petition the Judicial Committee for leave of appeal in forma pauperis. Where special leave has been granted in such a case, the FCO informs the appellant's solicitors that certain of the appellant's costs will be met from the overseas Government's funds.
October 1978
57
RESTRICTED