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BACKGROUND NOTE
A. Procedure for the Exercise of the Prerogative of Mercy
1.
In the United Kingdom The Queen exercises Her Royal Prerogative
of Mercy on the advice of the Secretary of State. In a Dependent
Territory however the Prerogative is delegated to the Governor.
In exercising it he is advised by his Executive Council/Council of
Ministers and although not absolutely bound to act in accordance
with their advice, especially if it is unanimous it will naturally
carry great weight with him.
2. In 1969 the Secretary of State directed that the entire policy
and procedure for the exercise of the Prerogative should be reviewed
in depth. In the following year a Committee appointed for the
purpose recommended, and the then Secretary of State agreed, that on legal, constitutional and political grounds, the existing procedure, originally formulated in 1947 by Mr Arthur Creech-Jones, the then
Secretary of State for the Colonies, should be reaffirmed. The
essential feature of this procedure is that the Governor of a Dependent
Territory has undivided responsibility for the exercise of the delegated Royal Prerogative of "ercy, and that if a condemned man petitions
beyond the Governor to Her Majesty the Secretary of State will always
advise Her Majesty not to intervene, except in the very rare case of
an apparent miscarriage of justice.
3. In one case, in Hong Kong in 1973, The Queen's residual
Prerogative of Mercy was, however, exercised on the advice of the
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who had petitioned lier for morcy, Secretary of state to reprieve a condemned murderer/in whose favour
the Governor had not felt able to exercise his own delegated
Prerogative. This decision was taken in the light of very special
political circumstances in the United Kingdom at the time, because
and
/ the
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