let the law take its course. If that were to happen,
both you and I would be expected to defend his action
before Parliament, where critics of the present state of
affairs would point to the contrast between the abolition
of capital punishment in the UK and its retention in some
of Her Majesty's territories. Our opponents would also
point out that while the Prime Minister has judged it
right to intervene in foreign countries to plead for
mercy in certain capital cases, we have no constitutional
power to do so in British Dependent Territories.
3.
Successive law officers of both this administration
and that of our predecessors, have considered carefully
what alternative course might be open to us to bring
about abolition in the Dependent Territories, but their
unamimous conclusion has been that the only satisfactory
way of proceeding is by primary legislation in the UK
Parliament. Any other device which we were to adopt
would either be constitutionally improper, would be a
misuse of the Royal Prerogative, or would be tantamount
to misleading Parliament. For various reasons ofwhich
•
your officials are aware we cannot give directives to our
Governors to commute death sentences except where there
has been an evident miscarriage of justice Nor do our
Governors have the power to introduce and force through
local legislation to abolish. I have therefore come to
the conclusion that it would be wise to grasp at the
opportunity presented by the Criminal Justice Bill to add
a short clause providing for abolition of capital
punishment in the Dependent Territories. The issues in
4,
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