Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret,
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
DRAFT
To:-*
7
NOTES FOR SUPPLEMENTARIES
In Confidencel
Type 1 +
From
.DSR 11
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
When will the Government seek Parliament's views?
It seems very unlikely that there will be time for a debate on this question in the coming session.
Pending consideration of this question by Parliament, will the Government take steps to ensure that no further executions are carried out in the Dependent Territories?
Under the policy that has been followed by successive British governments, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary does not intervene in capital cases in Dependent Territories except to prevent a miscarriage of justice.
In view of Parliament's known attitude towards capital punishment, as shown by its decision to abolish capital punishment for murder in this country, should the Government not regard itself as obliged to ensure that capital punish- ment is not practiced in any British territory?
The administration of justice in the dependent territories is a matter for the governmts of those territories.
We' have repeatedly made known to them the views of the British Government towards capital punishment and invited them to change their own law accordingly, but under existing policies, we cannot force them to change if they do not wish to do so.
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