§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what consideration he has given to reinstating(a) as previously completed and (b) with the amendments applied for by the next of kin the cancelled death certificate of Rudolf Hess; [13490]
(2) what recent representations he has received in relation to the registration of the death of Rudolf Hess; and if he will summarise his duties in this respect under (a) the four power agreement providing the prison regulations for Spandau Allied prison, (b) the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Special Provisions) Act 1957 and (c) other provisions [13489]
§ Mr. SoamesThe death of Rudolf Hess in Spandau prison, Berlin, was registered under the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Special Provisions) Act 1957 and the Service Departments Registers Order 1959. In 1995, Herr Wolf Rüdiger Hess applied for an amendment to the register entry, and at that point it was realised that the registration of his father's death was not in accordance with statue. The Act and the Order provide for the keeping of records of births, deaths and marriages outside the United Kingdom among members of the armed forces, the civilians employed in connection with those forces and in certain organisations concerned with their welfare, or their families. The Registrar General therefore cancelled the entry.
The solicitors acting for the Hess family have asked my Department to recommend that the death should be registered in accordance with the application made in 1995, but since Rudolf Hess belonged to none of the categories specified in the legislation the question of a new entry, in any form, does not arise. This has been explained in a letter from my Department's legal advisers to the solicitors. We are not aware of any duties placed on the Secretary of State for Defence by an agreement between the four powers.