CONFIDENTIAL
accordingly. As for giving directions to the governors, the main justification for this in the case of Hong Kong was that the territory lacked an elected legislature and that therefore special attention needed to be given to the views of Parliament in the United Kingdom. This consideration would not apply in Bermuda but I am not clear about the other DTs. The Hong Kong precedent may be useful.
2.
Whatever course we adopt, we shall have difficulty with local opinion. In that connection, I think it would be worth knowing what the legal position is in the independent Anglophile countries of the Caribbean, and indeed what practice there is. It is the case, I think, that there has been no execution in Jamaica for over ten years. Jamaica by any standards is a pretty violent country. If the Jamaicans and others can manage without capital punishment, why should not the Caymanians? If it is the case that practice and the law in the independent democracies is all against capital punishment, then support by HMG for abolition in the DTS could be presented as forward-looking both morally and politically. We could also consider other ways of trying to influence local opinion, e.g. a lecture tour by Louis Blom Cooper QC.
3.
I should be grateful if, in consultation with the Legal Advisers, you would take a look at the issues to see what sort of recommendations, if any, we might put to Ministers. Timing will be a key consideration. You will need to refresh your memory of Ministers' views in 1986 (please see paragraph 7 of Mr. Paul's submission of 18 January 1989 attached).
TINAEK
MBB
A.J. Beamish
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