TNAG-0721-FCO40-919-Capital-punishment-in-the-Dependent-Territories-1978 — Page 62

175

Mr Strattof

CONFIDENTIAL

пка 3867

RECEIVE

28 MAR 1978

DESK OFHOCH

INDEX

RA

No

3. 51

I REGISTRY

Action Take

c.c.

Pas well winite our

Mr Cortazzi Mr Rushford

Mr Stewart, HKGD

Mr Duff, WIAD

Mr Collins, MCD

180

K

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

1.

I

This came up at our meeting yesterday when I mentioned that I had not seen the relevant papers. have now been sent by HKGD a copy of Mr Stewart's minute of 1 March and submission of 3 March, the latter. covering draft telegram and letter.

2. The draft letter seems to me to raise serious difficulties for governors. It explains why Ministers here could not agree to governors allowing capital punishment to take place; but it makes no reference to the responsibilities which the governor and his Ministers have to carry for law and order in the territory. (Although in Bermuda the disturbances followed a failure to commute, there are instances where disturbances have followed a commutation which offended public opinion.)

3. We have generally sought to follow the precept that power and responsibility should run together, but the proposed letter goes the other way. It seeks in effect to restrict the governor's constitutional discretion and to render nugatory the advice of the local Ministers who bear the responsibility to their electorate for law and order, apparently without telling them. It seems to me important that Ministers in London should deal candidly and frankly with Ministers in the dependencies concerned and that any instructions in this sense should not be covert. Otherwise the governor's position becomes untenable. Hence I recommend that, if such a letter is to issue, the governors should be specifically authorised to inform their Chief Ministers of its contents. A better way might be for Mr Rowlands to write a personal letter, at least to the more important of the Chief Ministers concerned, in which he could explain the political reasons for this request in terms of

parliamentary and public opinion here. Local Ministers would of course maintain that it is parliamentary and public opinion in the territory which is the paramount factor,

/particularly

CONFIDENTIAL