Clause I. — (Abolition of Death Penalty for Murder.)

Part of Orders of the Day — Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 28 October 1965.

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Photo of Sir John Hobson Sir John Hobson , Warwick and Leamington 12:00, 28 October 1965

I need not say very much because I find myself in complete agreement with what was said by my hon. Friend the Member for Runcorn (Mr. Carlisle). I would have thought that the Amendment had almost nothing to be said for it. The only thing that one can say is that nothing can be said against it. It does nothing but give statutory authority to a position that already exists at common law. It allows judges to open their mouths on topics and in circumstances in which they can and do already open them. Why we should go to all the trouble of putting that into statutory form passes my comprehension.

I concede—because I had an Amendment down to this effect—that if we made it obligatory for a judge to express an opinion there might be something in it, because the public would know his opinion in every case. But under the terms of the Amendment the Home Secretary has no more obligation to take the slightest notice of what a judge says than he would have if we did not pass the Amendment. No question as to whether there should be a mitigation arises, because any question of mitigation should be addressed to the Home Secretary, in whose sole power the real nature of the sentence remains under the Amendment as it stands. As to the question of appeal, again it is otiose, because the appeal should be to the Home Secretary, in whom, again, all power resides.

I could not ask anybody, in conscience, to vote against the Amendment. It does not do any harm, but it does not do the slightest good. In my view it amounts to a certain degree of otiose flummery, which may salve some consciences but which will not make any difference to the operation of the Bill.