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HONG KONg legislative counCII 6th November 1975

[THE COLONIAL SECRETARY} Motion

There are differences of attitude, to which the honourable Dr CHUNG has referred, between what is acceptable in the United Kingdom and what is acceptable in Hong Kong. These different attitudes may suggest that capital punishment could be a more effective deterrent here than in other places. They definitely do mean that the great majority of the Hong Kong population are convinced that the death penalty would serve as a substantial deterrent to violent crime. It is also the common view that even if it does not deter, then it should be imposed as a measure of the outrage of the community and because it is widely believed that evil conduct should be visited by punishment.

But

I can assure Members that all these realities are understood. unfortunately the issue does not end there. Any prisoner sentenced to death in Hong Kong has the right to petition Her Majesty the Queen for clemency. The Queen, in reaching her decision, acts upon the advice of the appropriate United Kingdom Minister, namely the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. In tendering his advice to the Queen the Secretary of State must take into account the likely reaction in the United Kingdom Parliament, to which he is answerable, to the advice which he tenders to Her Majesty. Recent Secretaries of State have been of the opinion that they would not be supported in the House of Commons if they were to advise that death sentences should be carried out in Hong Kong. Moreover, there are no signs that this attitude of the House of Commons is likely to change in the immediate future.

I well understand the sense of frustration of honourable Members, which is shared by your Government.

I am authorized by His Excellency to say that he fully recognizes the fierceness of conviction with which so many residents of Hong Kong hold the view that, unless the death penalty is carried out in appropriate cases, the flood of crime and violence will not be turned back.

In recognition of these factors he has once again represented to the Secretary of State in the strongest terms the wish of Hong Kong for a restoration of the death penalty in those cases in which the circum- stances of the crime leave no reasonable justification for clemency.

His Excellency has asked me to say that he accepts the fact that public opinion on this issue is so strong and so universal that a change to current practice must be made in terms which go some way to meet

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL · 6th November 1975 225

the genuine feelings of the community, which clearly sees this issue as a test of the determination of the Government to tackle violent crime with determination.

In future, whenever he commutes a death penalty, the Governor will impose the alternative punishment of life imprisonment, unless, in exceptional circumstances, he feels able to accept advice from Executive Council that a lesser sentence should be imposed.

The only exception which might be made to this principle, is where, after a long period of imprisonment, strong humanitarian considera- tions might have emerged such as would justify the earlier release of a particular offender.

Population Policy

The honourable Mr Li has urged us to adopt a more positive population policy. Of course, we are aware of the difficulties which an excessive growth of population will cause to our social developmen! plans, bearing in mind particularly the limited areas of land within which we have to meet the community's needs.

The working party, which I informed honourable Members during the debate on the address last year would be established, has been studying this question in detail and its conclusions will be embodied in a paper to be presented to the Executive Council in the near future.

The two major factors which influence our population growth are migration and natural increase.

The measures that we have felt obliged to take to reduce inward migration have, I believe, produced a visible and welcome reduction from the peaks experienced in recent years.

We have also seen a dramatic fall in the birth rate during the last 15 years. The dedicated work of the Family Planning Association, and the more recent involvement of the Medical and Health Department, have provided a widespread network of family planning clinics, at which professional advice and facilities are available at a cost which makes them accessible to all. The increasing numbers attending these clinics, and the decline in our birth rate, indicate that family planning is well accepted by the people of Hong Kong.

So far, our approach has been to encourage voluntary limitation of family size and we have not yet felt obliged to resort to the more coercive methods which have been adopted elsewhere, though it must