§ 6. Mr. Patonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for amending the law of murder as it relates to the survivors of suicide pacts.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeAs I said in the House on 16th February, the Government have accepted the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment that the survivor of a suicide pact who had not himself killed the other party to the pact should be guilty of the crime of aiding, abetting or instigating the suicide of the other, and not of murder, and should be liable to life imprisonment. I cannot, however, hold out any prospect of the introduction of the necessary legislation in the near future.
§ Mr. PatonIs the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware of the circumstances of the recent case in the City of Norwich in which a girl of 17, the survivor of such a pact, was, after a frightful ordeal, tried for the murder of her sweetheart? Is it not time to put an end to the public scandal of such trials? Will the right hon. and gallant Gentleman treat the matter as one of urgency?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThe hon. Member may remember that during one of the debates on the abolition of capital punishment I suggested that there were three, if not four, major amendments which should be made, but that, if they were to be made at all, they had better be made all together. In any case, I think the House would agree that it would be rather inappropriate if we did anything now before knowing whether the Death Penalty (Abolition) Bill is to be accepted or rejected.