Appendix Individual opinion submitted bv Ms. Christine Chanet pursuant to rule 94, paragraph 3, of the rules of procedure in respect of communications Nos. 270/1988 and 271/1988 (Barrett and Sutcliffe v. Jamaica) I cannot accept the content of the last sentence of paragraph 8,4 of the decision taken by the Human Rights Committee on communications Nos. 270/1988 and 271/1988 in that it holds the authors to be largely responsible for the length of their detention on death row because, during this period, they allegedly waited until the last moment before appealing to the Privy Council. On the basis of this argument, the Committee finds that there was no violation of article 7 of the Covenant in that respect. In my view it is difficult for the criteria formulated by the Committee to assess the reasonableness of the duration of proceedings to be applied without qualification to the execution of a death sentence. The conduct of the person concerned with regard to the exercise of remedies ought to be measured against the stakes involved. Without being at all cynical, I consider that the author cannot be expected to hurry up in making appeals so that he can be executed more rapidly. On this point, I share the position taken by the European Court of Human Rights in its judgement of 7 July 1989 on the Soering case: "Nevertheless, just as some lapse of time between sentence and execution is inevitable if appeal safeguards are to be provided to the condemned person, so it is equally part of human nature that the person will cling to life by exploiting those safeguards to the full. However, well-intentioned and even potentially beneficial is the provision of the complex of post-sentence procedures in Virginia, the consequence is that the condemned prisoner has to endure for many years the conditions on death row and the anguish and mounting tension of living in the ever-present shadow of death." Consequently, my opinion is that, in this type of case, the elements involved in determining the time factor cannot be assessed in the same way if they are attributable to the State party as if they can be ascribed to the condemned person. A very long period on death row, even if partially due to the failure of the condemned prisoner to exercise a remedy, cannot exonerate the State party from its obligations under article 7 of the Covenant. Christine CHANET -252-