TNAG-1923-FCO40-2728-Capital-punishment-in-Hong-Kong-1989 — Page 43

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Commutation of Death Sentence

You will know that there is a long history to the question of commutation of death sentences in Hong Kong. The problem reached a crisis point in 1973 when the Governor, on the advice of ExCo (with only one member dissenting) decided not to commute the death sentence imposed on a murderer called Tsoi. Tsoi petitioned The Queen. In the ensuing exchanges between Hong Kong and London, the Secretary of State made it clear that if the petition to The Queen went ahead he would feel compelled to advise that She exercise Her prerogative of mercy. This particular case coincided with two separate votes in the House of Commons on the question of capital punishment. To avoid a constitutional problem the Governor eventually decided to commute the sentence. There were numerous exchanges between Hong Kong and London at the time and in the ensuing months.

2.

Since then (as indeed has been the case since 1967 when Lord Shepherd said in answer to a question in the House of Lords that the Government would disapprove of any future carrying out of the death penalty) all death sentences in Hong Kong have been commuted by the Governor. Because the Tsoi case, and the dispute with London, caused a great deal of unease in Hong Kong, the then Colonial Secretary made a statement to LegCo in 1975 saying that whenever the Governor commuted a death penalty in future he would impose the alternative punishment of life imprisonment unless, in exceptional circumstances, he felt able to accept advice from ExCo on a lesser sentence.

3.

By custom, ExCo is asked to advise what alternative sentence they would propose if the Governor commutes a death sentence, rather than whether the sentence itself should be commuted.