•
bear in mind the fact that the use of the death penalty was repugnant to Parliament and the people of the United Kingdom to whom he was answerable. Each Secretary of State would therefore be free, having regard to these circumstances, to consistently advise the Queen to exercise her prerogative.
7. There are two further points that follow if the last possibility discussed is to be adopted. First, there should be consideration as to whether or not the change of policy should be announed to the House. This is of course a matter of Parliamentary procedure, but since the Creech Jones doctrine was enunciated in the House (vide, House of Commons debates, volumes 441 and 548 columns 230-233 and column 29 of 25 January 1956) it may well be preferable that this new doctrine is also announced by way of a similar procedure. Second, there can be no public statement that the Secretary of State will recommend the exercise of the prerogative in every case. Whether or not any Secretary of State decides to do so this' should not be publically stated for the reasons that I have given above. This is not dishonest since, of course, no Secretary of State can bind his successor to any course he may have adopted himself and the question of a permanent policy does not therefore arise.
8. I have not attempted to amend your draft submission in view of the fact that you will no doubt prefer to do so yourself having regard to this minute. As far as the factual paragraphs are concerned, I would suggest that in paragraph 3 the Caribbean dependencies are named and that the reference in paragraph 8 to the 1965 and 1970 reviews should be contained after the first sentence in paragraph 3. At the end of the sentence discussing the Creech Jones doctrine, the words "save if they had been an evident miscarriage of justice" should be added. Perhaps the first sentence of paragraph 6 could run "The prerogative of mercy retained by the Queen is a continuing one in the case of the territories where the death penalty still exists, notwithstanding the effect of the Creech Jones doctrine....
9.
I would be pleased to discuss this further if you wish.
20 May 1977
Zie hint
اساز
JD P Bickford
Legal Advisers
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.