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11.
The alternatives discussed above were also put to Governors and the following is a resume of their individual reactions and preferences:-
Bermuda
*B V I
*Belize
Caymen Islands
Hong Kong
*Montserrat
Turks and
Course v. preferred
Course iii. preferred. Course v. open to objection that a different decision in London would undermine Governor's authority
Course iii. preferred. Course v. renders the Governor's prerogative otiose
Course i. preferred. Course ii. would lead to rejection in Assembly. Course v. seen as alternative to i.
Recommends no action but sees course v. objectionable
No preferences expressed
Caicos Islands
Course iii. preferred. rejection
at least
Course ii. would lead to
Course ii. is not an option in these territories.
Capital Punishment in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man
12. The Home Secretary recommends the exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (the power of the Sovereign to show mercy towards a convicted person by mitigating or removing the consequences of a conviction) if he is satisfied, after considering all the circumstances, that it can properly be used in clemency or to correct a miscarriage of justice which cannot be corrected by the normal processes of the law. The following paragraphs indicate how the potential or actual removal of the power to impose the death penalty has affected the way in which the Prerogative has been exercised in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
The United Kingdom
13. In April 1948, when a non-Government amendment was made to the Criminal Justice Bill suspending the sentence of death for murder for an experimental period of five years, the then Home Secretary, Mr Chuter Ede, made a statement to the House of Commons saying that he considered that it would be abhorrent to public opinion to carry out the death sentence in the period before the Criminal Justice Bill became law and that he had
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CONFIDENTIAL
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