TNAG-0722-FCO40-920-Capital-punishment-in-the-Dependent-Territories-1978 — Page 46

BACKGROUND NOTE

1. In 1965, when the death penalty was suspended in the UK,

and again in 1970, when it was finally abolished here, all those dependent territories which still retained capital punishment were invited to amend their legislation in the light of our own action. As a result, some did so, but seven territories have consistently refused and still retain the death penalty. The seven territories, with the dates when the last executions took place in each one, are:-

Belize (1974)

Bermuda (1977)

British Virgin Islands (1972)

Cayman Islands

Hong Kong

(1928)

(1966)

Montserrat (1960)

Turks & Caicos Islands (1946)

2. The death penalty is also retained in the Associated States (including Anguilla which is constitutionally part of the State of St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla).

3.

The administration of justice in dependent territories is an internal matter in which the British Government does not usually become involved. The Royal Prerogative of Mercy has been delegated to Governors, and although this does not empty The Queen of the power to exercise the Prerogative herself if she chooses to do so, in practice the need for her to do so is unlikely to arise.

4. Under a policy enunciated in 1947 by the then Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr Arthur Creech-Jones, and followed since then by successive British Governments, the Secretary of State does not advise Her Majesty to intervene except in the very rare event that a miscarriage of justice might otherwise take place.