t
CCULAR
9305/44
SIR,
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Please retum to o
Loeschair (H243A)
DOWNING STREET,
18th July, 1944.
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I have the honour to inform you that I have had under consideration, in consultation with the
Lord Chancellor, the question of the long delays which are apt to occur between sentence and execution
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in cases in which prisoners under sentence of death in the Colonial Empire apply for special leave to
appeal to His Majesty in Council.
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2. It is most desirable both in the public interest and in the interest of the prisoners themselves
that the interval between sentence and execution should not be prolonged unnecessarily, and I share
the view which has been expressed by the Lord Chancellor that it is a matter of real public importance
to quicken up these appeals so far as is consistent with justice for the accused and with preserving the
right of appeal to His Majesty in Council. I am sure you will agree with this view.
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3. The Judicial Committee have no cognisance of a case until a petition for special leave to appeal
has been lodged in the Privy Council Office. It follows that no rule or rules made in this country
could compel action in respect of a petition for special leave until it has been lodged. Once that
has been done, all possible, steps are already taken to hasten matters, and it is the practice of the
Judicial Committee, in cases where leave to appeal is given, to endeavour to put terms on the
petitioner to secure that, as far as he is concerned, the hearing of the appeal can take place promptly.
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4. It follows therefore that if any speeding-up of the present procedure is to be effected, it must
be by shortening the interval between the date of capital sentence and the date when the petition
for special leave reaches the Judicial Committee. In order to meet a similar problem which arose
in India a system was established some years ago by the India Office, in co-operation with the local
Executive Governments, which has proved effective in preventing delay in the lodgment of proposed.
petitions for special leave in criminal cases. I enclose an extract from the rules which were made in
India on this subject. These Rules proceeded solely from the authority of the Executive (i.e. they
were not made under powers conferred by statute), and they applied throughout British Indía.
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The Officer Administering
the Government of
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