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W(B)L 51-7406
CONFIDENTIAL
mandatory minimum sentences for certain
categories of offences. Any proposal to
introduce mandatory minimum sentences in this
country would, we are told by the Home Office,
meet with the strongest resistance from
judges and magistrates. Such sentences are
indeed generally regarded in Government circles
in Great Britain as contrary to the long
established principle in the administration
of justice that the Government and Parliament
should indicate the relative gravity of an
offence by prescribing the maximum penalty
which is considered appropriate, but that
subject to that statutory limit the Court
itself should have discretion to determine
the penalty for an offence after taking into
account all the circumstances of both the
individual offence and of the individual
offender. The Home Office have more
specifically commented to us on the practical
difficulties of fixing a minimum sentence,
e.g. if set low enough to cover cases
with special mitigatory circumstances, it
might well appear derisory when applied to
of cases
the generality: if fixed even with the average case in mind, there would be bound
to be instances where it would be too harsh.
So far as we know, the only exceptions to the
above general principles are the mandatory
penalty of life imprisonment for murder and
the mandatory disqualification from driving
on conviction for certain motoring offences.
In these particular cases special considera-
tions are held to apply.
CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL
7.
In this connection, you may be interested to
know that recently enacted legislation
in Northern Ireland, under which persons
convicted of certain offences committed
during the period of the present emergency
receive minimum sentences of imprisonment,
is reported "to have thrown up certain
problems. We are asking for further
information about this and if the problems
in question prove relevant to the situation
in Hong Kong I will pass the information
on to you.
8.
Varying views have been expressed by
different authorities on the deterrent
effect of various penalties and punishments,
but in our view (and in the view of our
police advisers) this effect can only be
determined in the light of local
circumstances.
Constant police vigilance
and the rigid control of the possession of
offensive weapons seem to offer as good a
prospect as any of reducing violent crime.
9. We should be glad if you would keep
us in touch with developments in this
field.
CONFIDENTIAL
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ge 9
ge 9
Capital Punishment-Hong Kong
1956-1968
Annex A
No.sentenced
Executions
Commutations
to death
Convictions quashed
1956
1957
5
in in
60
5
о
5
1
1958
4
4
О
1959
8
7
1
1960
4
3
1
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1968
1969
76 ~ ~ +
5
in in M
3
5
4
N N
2
2
2
0
1
1
2
О
2
4
О
4
5
2
3
5
3
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