CONFIDENTIAL
STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
If,
personally favoured the abolition of the death penalty. however, Mr Davidson cannot conscientiously play any part in a process which may lead to the execution of a capital sentence, he had better be replaced. In this connection it is also right to remember that some Secretaries of State have also been in favour of the abolition of the death sentence without, however, allowing this fact to prevent them from doing what was necessary in relation to a capital case from a dependency. I vividly remember the Poole case in Kenya when Mr McLeod was Secretary of State for the Colonies. Poole was a White man convicted of the murder of an African and the Governor, Sir Patrick Renison, after most anxious consideration, decided that there were no grounds for commutation. Poole then petitioned the Crown and Mr McLeod had to advise. He had great initial difficulty in reaching a decision but when I explained to him what the traditional relationship was between the Governor and the Crown under the long-standing practice to which Mr Creech Jones referred in his statement, the Secretary of State felt able to advise the Sovereign not to intervene.
8. If a Governor properly decided to let the law take its course, a subsequent petition to The Queen should not be regarded as an appeal against his decision but as a second plea for mercy directed to another authority. Under Creech Jones such a plea is invariably disregarded, but we take car so far as we can to ensure that there is no ground for mercy that the Governor may have overlooked or disregarded.
9.
I should
Since we are concerned with mercy there is necessarily room for a difference of opinion as to the merits of any particular case. I should have thought it was right that the decision should be taken in the community in which the crime was committed. very much doubt the wisdom of referring to an external tribunal because that tribunal would be deficient in local knowledge. There has probably been a general trend to exercise mercy more often than used to be the case in the old days, but even so territories vary a lot in their attitudes, for example the Malayan rulers were always very reluctant to commute while the Aden Arabs tended to dislike the idea of putting a man to death except in those specific circumstances where the death penalty was enjoined by the Koran. There can never have been a single formula or even a consistent practice about the exercise of clemency like the Lord Chancellor's conscience, it varied with the length of the Lord Chancellor's foot. If, however, such a tribunal were to be set up it would not be appropriate to place it under the chairman- ship of a judge since it would not be a judicial body.
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STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
CONFIDENTIAL
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