XCRI (89) 1
11
Page
4
to
"I am authorised by His Excellency say that
that he
he fully recognizes the
recognizes the fierceness of conviction with which
many Hong Kong residents hold the view that, unless the death penalty is carried out in appropriate cases, the flood of crime and violence will not be turned back.
once
"In recognition of these factors he has
again represented to the
the Secretary of State in the strongest terms the wish of Hong Kong for restoration of the death penalty
in those cases in which the circumstances of the crime leave no reasonable justification for clemency.
"His Excellency has asked me to say that he accepts the fact that public opinion on this issue is so strong and so universal that a change to currrent practice must be made in
terms that go some way to meet the genuine feelings of the community, which clearly sees this issue as a test of the determination of the Government to tackle violent crime with determination.
"In future, whenever he commutes a death penalty, the Governor will impose the alternative punishment of life imprisonment, unless, in exceptional feels able to accept Executive Council that
a
circumstances, he
advice from the
lesser sentence
should be imposed" : (H.K. Hansard 1975-76,
PP. 224-5).
The power of commutation rests in the Governor's hands alone and since 1975 all death sentences have been commuted by him. Nevertheless, in each case the advice of ExCo is sought although, by convention,
by convention, ExCo advises not on the question of whether or not a death sentence should be commuted but only on the appropriate alternative sentence to be imposed were the Governor to commute. By custom, and to mark the seriousness of the decision involved, consideration of such cases always comes before consideration of the main ExCo agenda.
Length of Sentences in Commutation Cases
12
Records kept within the Attorney General's Chambers show that between the suspension of capital punishment in 1966 and 1975 death sentences were almost invariably commuted to
7