§ Mr. Smithersasked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations if he will make a statement regarding the law relating to homicide in the High Commission Territories.
§ Mr. AlportOn 8th August last, Proclamations were issued by the High Commissioner in each of the three High Commission Territories that effected certain reforms in the local law relating to the offence of murder. These reforms have the following objects
First, where a person is convicted of murder, the court is required, before passing sentence, to consider in every case whether there are any extenuating circumstances having regard to the standard of the ordinary person of the community to which the accused belongs; if the court finds that there are extenuating circumstances, the death sentence is not obligatory and the court may instead impose any lawful sentence other than the death sentence.Secondly, the law relating to provocation has been amended and codified so that, in deciding whether the accused was provoked, a court is required to judge the matter according to the standards of an ordinary person of the section of the community to which the accused person belongs.Thirdly, the law has been amended in relation to suicide pacts, so that the survivor to such an arrangement, if he killed or was party to the killing of the other person to the pact, is deemed to be guilty of culpable homicide and not murder.