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the death penalty, then the consequences on the Governor's
relations with his local advisers would need to be considered.
It would be important to deal openly with local Ministers if
the position and credit of the Governor were not to be underminedl
7. The suggestion has been made that, in order to avoid
possible embarrassment to British Ministers, Governors should
'bend' their decisions in the direction of commutation
irrespective of local considerations or of the merits of the
case. This suggestion seems neither constitutionally proper
nor administratively wise. It introduces an element of
insincerity into the Governor's dealings with his advisers
and seeks to exert extraneous influence upon his proper ·
discharge of the burden of responsibility which constitutionally
is placed upon him and him alone. There cannot fail to arise
cases where in exercising this difficult and painful
responsibility a Governor' will come to the conlusion that the
law should take its course. It would be wrong to expect a
Governor in exercising the royal prerogative, to subvert his
judgment in fulfilling his clear constitutional duty in order
to meet a domestic political requirement of Ministers in
London. The only acceptable way for such a decision to be
over-ridden in the existing constitutional arrangement would
be by exercise of Her residual prerogative by The Queen
Herself on the advice of the British Minister.
CONFIDENTIAL
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