нка 386
RECEIVED IN PACONITEENȚAI
28 FEB 1978
REGISTRY Action Taken
Syaitary fitate
Ur foot will be asked to
bead on thes
Mr Stratton
DESK OFFICE
INDEX
PS
No
ве
164
Flag B Flag C
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN DEPENDENT OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
Flag A60 1. The Prime Minister has said that he would like Cabinet to
consider capital punishment in dependent overseas territories
CP(78) 2 (DOTs). The Lord President has circulated a memorandum for the Cabinet meeting. Ministers in GEN 103 recommended that a Motion be introduced in the House of Commons, the effect of which would be to abrogate the Creech-Jones doctrine.
They also recommended a free vote be allowed and that a Private Member's Resolution was more suitable than a Government Motion.
2. Ministers in GEN 103 all recognized that the most satisfactory solution to the problem of those DOTS which retain capital punishment would be that the British Parliament should introduce a Bill to abolish capital punishment throughout the dependent overseas territories. Ministers recognized, however, that the parliamentary timetable would not permit the introduction of such a Bill in this session. They also recognized that there were certain problems because the effect of such a Bill would be to modify the constitutions of three of the DOTS: Bermuda, Belize and Montserrat. There is a political difficulty here in that by an exchange of letters after the Bermuda Conference in 1968, the British Government committed itself not to take any action which would modify the constitution of Bermuda without consulta- tions with the Governor of Bermuda.
3. The alternative course of legislation by Order in Council which would not call for a debate in the House was also considered but an Order in Council would not affect a change in those three DOTS where capital punishment is enshrined in the constitution so that after an Order in Council capital punishment would still be retained in Belize, Bermuda and Montserrat.
CONFIDENT TAL
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