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Hong Kong
Stat
HKD.
bolitionist in practice
Executions 1985 - mid-88: None
Other factors: None
Method of execution: Hanging
Treason 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.
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 Gover- nor 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 in- troduced in 1987, if prisoners fail to appeal to the Court of Appeal within 28 days of convic- tion, 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 Com- monwealth Affairs for the United Kingdom.
Between 1985 and May 1988, Amnesty Inter- national received reports of 45 people sen- tenced to death and six commutations of death sentences to life imprisonment; all sentences had been imposed for murder.
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