TNAG-2084-FCO40-2969-Death-penalty-in-Hong-Kong-1990 — Page 57

PRESIDENT

OF TH

aw

COUNCI

/R9 10/10

Miso Maraden Ms Saun 10/10

CONFIDENTIAL

WIAD

pa. Cap. pr.

PRIVY COUNCIL OFFICE

1818150

48

WHITEHALL. LONDON SWIA 2AT

Ps

Xeps

PS/Mr Gared-fores Ps / Lord Caithness Ps | Mr Lennox-Boyd

8 October 1990

HID

UND

10/10

Mr Mclaren Mr Beamish Sir A Watts

PPB

PRU

Draw Dongles

HKB

Legal Advisers

380/1 Special Advisers

17 OCT 990

46

DEPENDENT TERRITORIES: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Thank you for your minute of 19 September.

I can see that there is a strong case for doing our best to ensure that, for so long as we do not have capital punishment in the United Kingdom, it should not be used in our dependent territories. The action you propose would, I think, inevitably reopen the domestic issue, as David Waddington has argued in his letter of 25 September and is therefore not something which we should contemplate lightly.

I think that, if you wish to pursue the matter, you should develop in more detail the case for taking action now rather than letting sleeping dogs lie - a policy which, on the face of it, has been successfully pursued for some 13 years. If there are doubts about whether Governors will hold the line, could we not consider strengthening their hand by adopting a policy of more positively asking local legislatures themselves to follow the example of Westminster. This would, I acknowledge, involve exercising more explicit pressure than has so far been possible, indirectly, through Governors. But it could be preferable to bypassing local legislatures by simply imposing requirements on them.

Turning to the mechanism you propose, I have some doubts about the appropriateness of using Orders in Council, which would not be subject to Parliamentary debate, to override the wishes of local legislatures in a matter of this kind. My own feeling is that it would be necessary to provide for

to provide for some sort of Parliamentary debate, possibly before the Orders were made, and I think you should take account of the implications of that in developing your proposals.

An

9/10.

CONFIDENTIAL

Contd 2/