TNAG-1923-FCO40-2728-Capital-punishment-in-Hong-Kong-1989 — Page 31

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Jaume Corsar

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June 1989

THE DEATH PENALTY IN HONG KONG

In the British colony of Hong Kong the offences of treason, piracy with violence and murder are punishable by death, with the latter carrying a mandatory death penalty. However, no executions have been carried out since November 1966, after the death penalty was provisionally abolished in the United Kingdom in 1965. Since 1966, over 200 people convicted of murder have had their death sentences commuted (the majority to life imprisonment) by the Governor of Hong Kong.

During the period 1985 - 1988, Amnesty International received reports about 45 people sentenced to death and six commutations of death sentences to life imprisonment. All death sentences had been imposed for murder. In March 1989 there were 27 prisoners on "death row" in Hong Kong's Stanley Prison.

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Defendants charged with murder are tried in the High Court, which sits with a judge and jury. If convicted, defendants may then lodge an appeal against their sentence with the court of Appeal within 28 days of conviction. If the appeal is unsuccessful, appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England, which serves as the final court of appeal for Hong Kong, is also possible.

Once all channels of appeal have been exhausted, prisoners can petition the Governor for clemency. In reaching a decision, the Governor consults the Executive Council of Hong Kong, which is an advisory body to the Governor. According to a new procedure introduced in 1987, if prisoners fail to appeal to the Court of Appeal within 28 days of conviction, automatic consideration of commutation is given by the Governor one month thereafter. Petitions for clemency (commutation), can also be sent to Queen Elizabeth II who, in reaching her decision, would take advice from the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom.

There is concern that the death penalty will be carried out again after 1997, when Hong Kong becomes a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, where the death penalty is still widely used and widely carried out. Advocates of abolition in Hong Kong point out that the death penalty should be abolished as a safeguard to civil liberties in 1997 and that it is an anachronism to have a law that is not enforced.

In March 1989, however, the Hong Kong Government stated that it had no plans to abolish the death penalty even though all death sentences have been commuted since 1966. In answer to questions raised in the Legislative Council, the Chief Secretary, Sir David Ford, said that the death penalty was the appropriate sentence for the crime of murder. The Government also said it believed that the majority of Hong Kong people wanted to retain the death penalty and that the present law would be maintained after 1997.

While no executions have been carried out in Hong Kong since 1966, Amnesty International is concerned that the death penalty should be abolished in law.

☎ 01-833 1771 Telegrams: Amnesty London WC1 Telex: 28502 Fax: 01-833 5100 Amnesty International is an independent worldwide movement working impartially for the release of all prisoners of conscience, fair and prompt trials