TNAG-2156-FCO40-3076-International-Covenant-on-Civil-and-Political-Rights-(ICCPR)-1990 — Page 162

CCPR/C/58/Add.6 page 130

Article 3

6. There is no discrimination between the sexes in terms of civil and political rights. There is no discrimination in terms of education or occupation. Women hold as many responsible positions in and out of government as men. Until August 1987, the Minister of Education was a woman. Three of the six Permanent Secretaries, and one of the two magistrates, are women.

7.

Article 4

Emergency powers in Montserrat are vested in the Governor, but there is rarely occasion for the exercise of those powers. The laws which he may make are required to expire at the end of the emergency, except where the Legislature otherwise decides.

8.

Article 5

There has been no restriction on the exercise of fundamental human rights.

Article 6

9.

Three enactments deal with capital punishment. They are:

(a)

The Offences Against the Person Act (chap. 56);

(b)

The Genocide Ordinance No. 3 of 1970; and

(c) The Sentence of Death (Expectant Mothers) Act (chap. 73).

Under the Offences Against the Person Act a person convicted of murder must be sentenced to death if he is not under 18 years of age.

10.

11.

Under the Genocide Ordinance, a person guilty of genocide which results in death is himself punishable with death by hanging. Genocide is given the meaning as in article 11 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

12.

Under the Sentence of Death (Expectant Mothers) Act, where the offender is found guilty of an offence punishable by death and is pregnant, the sentence passed is one of imprisonment for life.

13. No one has been hanged in Montserrat since 1961. The death penalty has not been imposed since 1960; it remains on the statute books as a deterrent. There is provision in the law for the Crown to extend mercy to any person condemned by the court to suffer death (art. 8, Montserrat Royal Instruction 1959, art. 9, Montserrat Letters Patent 1959).

Article 7

14. A decision to abolish judicial corporal punishment was taken by the Executive Council of Montserrat in July 1989.

The

15. On 8 December 1988, the United Kingdom ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. ratification was extended to Montserrat.

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