CONFIDENTIAL
DSR 11C
6. The delegation of authority to the Governor
leaves a residual power to exercise the prerogative
of mercy with Her Majesty, who is advised by the
Secretary of State. In 1947 Mr Creech-Jones made a
statement in Parliament describing the Secretary of
State's position over capital cases (copy attached).
His statement reflected a long-standing practice which
(with one exception in 1973 - see paragraph 8) has
been observed by successive Secretaries of State up to
the present time. It is loosely referred to as the
Creech-Jones doctrine.
7. Over the years colonial Governors have discharged
the constitutional responsibility vested in them, in
consultation with their Executive Councils or Advisory
Committees, to consider all capital cases. On rare
occasions, the Secretary of State has brought
considerations to their notice which might otherwise
not have been given due weight (eg the Lightbourne
case in Bermuda in 1959 and the Nairn case in the
Bahamas in 1969). But there is no case on record where
the residual prerogative has needed to be exercised
because a Governor has failed to take into account a
factor that would have rendered it unjust for him to
let the law take its course. In recent years many more
death sentences pronounced in the DOTs have been
commuted than have been carried out, because the
Governor and his advisers have thought it right to
exercise clemency. The dates of the last executions
in the seven DOTS that still retain the death penalty
are Belize 1974, Bermuda 1943 (apart from the two in
1977), British Virgin Islands 1972, Cayman Islands 1928,
/Hong Kong
D 107991 400,000 7/76 904 953
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.