No.45.
m
ESTABLISHMENT DEPARTMENT NOTICE.
Radford
12.1
43
Procedure for dealing with petitions.
Paragraphs 155 to 160 of the Colonial Office Code of Procedure have been revised as follows:-
At end of paragraph 155 should be added:-
"If, however, the petition is from a convicted criminal praying for the exercise of the prerogative of mercy, the answer should be as in paragraph 156(b)(ii) below".
Paragraphs 156 to 160 are cancelled and replaced by the
following:-
"156. Petitions to His Majesty.
(See also preceding paragraphs as to petitions wrongly addressed and petitions from judgments of Colonial Courts.
A petition is defined for the purposes of the following paragraphs as a memorial which is addressed to the King, praying for some assistance in a matter of government. The definition docs not cover letters which may be addressed to the King, or (see paragraph 159) to the Queen or any other Member of the Royal Family asking for assistance of a personal nature).
(a) From Aliens.
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Aliens have no right to petition His Majesty on matters which occur outside His Majesty's dominions and such petitions should not be submitted. Petitions received from aliens resident abroad requesting permission to enter British territory, or complaining of their inability to obtain facilities to proceed to such territory should similarly not be submitted to His Majesty.
Petitions of the kind referred to in the preceding paragraph may normally be destroyed or put by without any answer being returned. In cases in which a petition contains enclosures which must be returned, it should be made clear to the petitioner that his petition has not been submitted to His Majesty and no considered reply should be returned to the petition. The normal procedure in such cases is to send the petition and its enclosures to the Foreign Office, with a request that it may be returned to the petitioner with an intimation that the King is unable to receive petitions from persons who are not of British nationality.
Petitions from aliens on matters which occur while the petitioner is in British territory, and therefore owing a qualified allegiance to His Majesty may be submitted to the King in accordance with the procedure outlined in (b) below.
In this connection, the expressions "liis Majesty's dominions" and "British territory" should be regarded as including territories under His Majesty's protection and trust territories administered by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. (b) From British Subjects and British-protected Persons.
(1) Petitions other than petitions for mercy in criminal cases should be submitted to His Majesty either (a) by a formal submission signed by the Secretary of State or (b) by a note from
the
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