:
THE "CREECH JONES DOCTRINE"
The explanation, as given by Mr Creech Jones, then Secretary of State, in the House of Commons on August 11, 1947, contained six interrelated reasons, compelling in their cumulative effect:
1. For the Secretary of State to adopt any other course
would conflict with the plain intention of the constitutional instruments which, by delegating the Prerogative, set up a better machinery for reaching
decisions.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
His intervention would also be contrary to the common sense of the situation, since the Governor, knowing all the circumstances, is in the best position to judge whether the Prerogative of mercy should be exercised in any particular case.
It would be necessary for the Secretary of State to consider fully the facts of each case in which he intervened and all the considerations which bore upon it, a matter of great difficulty remote from the scene of the crime. It is likely that, if it were once understood that the Secretary of State was ready to intervene, numerous petitions would be sent to him or to the queen and their consideration by him would be physically impossible.
In capital cases, their mere consideration would cause just that delay which it is necessary to avoid.
The best safeguard for a careful decision in so grave a matter is the undivided responsibility of the person who
makes it.
It is a natural corollary that the Secretary of State should decline to give reasons in Farliament for a Governor's decision; and he cannot be questioned about pending capital sentences.
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