CAB129-78 — Page 263

SECRET

C.P. (55) 202

Printed for the Cabinet. December 1955

16th December, 1955

CABINET

Page 263

Copy No. 67

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

MEMORANDUM BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT AND MINISTER FOR WELSH Affairs

In response to the invitation of the Cabinet on 22nd November (C.M. (55) 42nd Conclusions, Minute 4) I have set out in this paper the arguments for and against capital punishment. The paper does not attempt to discuss moral considerations or the belief, sincerely held by many, that it is wrong in any circumstances to take life.

RECENT HISTORY

2. The Criminal Justice Bill, as introduced by the Labour Government in 1948, proposed no substantial change in the law about capital punishment, but on a free vote in the House of Commons on an amendment moved by a Private Member (Mr. Silverman) it was amended by 245 votes to 222 so as to suspend the death penalty for five years. This amendment was rejected by the House of Lords. The Government then proposed a compromise clause by which murders would be graded, with capital punishment only for the worst. This compromise was accepted by the House of Commons but rejected by the House of Lords.

3. In 1949 the Labour Government appointed a Royal Commission to consider whether liability to suffer capital punishment for murder should be limited or modified. The Commission's chief recommendations were that the M'Naghten Rules should be abrogated, and, by a majority of 1, that the age-limit below which a person may not be sentenced to death should be raised from 18 to 21. They suggested somewhat tentatively that the jury should be given discretion to substitute a lesser sentence for the sentence of death.

4. In a debate in the House of Commons in February, 1955, on a motion to take note of the Royal Commission's report (Cmd. 8932), I announced the Govern- ment's provisional conclusion that the main recommendations were unacceptable. On a free vote, an amendment providing for the suspension of capital punishment for five years was rejected by 245 votes to 214.

5. In this Session I have announced that the Government have confirmed their provisional conclusion that the Commission's main recommendations are unacceptable; that a number of minor recommendations have been carried out administratively; and that the remaining recommendations, many of which are controversial or raise difficult issues, have been noted for consideration when an opportunity for legislation arises.

6. Mr. S. Silverman, M.P., has been given leave to introduce, under the Ten-Minute Rule, a Bill providing for the abolition or suspension of the death penalty. It is unlikely to make progress in the normal way, but over 200 members have put their names to a motion asking for an opportunity to debate the Second Reading of the Bill.

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