§ Mr. Rhodri MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the principal steps taken by his Department to clarify responsibility for registering the death of Rudolf Hess and for providing proper certification of it. [759]
§ Dr. ReidFollowing an approach by the Hess family in 1995, it was found that the record of Rudolf Hess's death had been incorrectly passed to the General Register Office under a statute which was not applicable. The registration, which had not previously been questioned, was therefore cancelled by the Registrar General after consulting my Department and the Foreign and26W Commonwealth Office. This decision does not, however, affect the validity of the death certificate, which was issued as the result of an autopsy conducted under arrangements agreed by the Four Powers.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements were in force under the relevant quadripartite agreements to carry out(a) an autopsy and (b) certification of cause of death as regards deaths of prisoners in Spandau prison at the time of the death of Rudolf Hess. [761]
§ Dr. ReidUnder arrangements agreed in 1983, by which time Hess was the only remaining prisoner in Spandau prison, an autopsy was conducted by a British pathologist at the British Military Hospital in Berlin in the presence of observers representing the Four Powers. Responsibility for certifying the cause of death lay with the pathologist.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the quadripartite agreement of 20 March 1952 governing deaths of prisoners in Spandau prison (HCOM/P(152)17) was still in force at the time of the death of Rudolf Hess. [760]
§ Dr. ReidWe are aware of a document with the reference HICOM/P(52)17. This was not a quadripartite agreement but a discussion paper drawn up by the Law Committee of the Allied High Commission Germany. As such, it was not in force at any time.