the first day of the new session of the House of Assembly.

The Progressive Labour Party Government's Throne Speech announced that the Criminal Code would be amended to axe both hanging and flogging from Bermuda's law books.

And Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister said there was a good chance the issue would be decided by a conscience vote by MPs in the House -- not in a referendum similar to one held in the early 1990s when voters backed keeping the rope.

"We're bringing a bill amending existing bills so in that case it's more than likely we will simply lay it down as a Government position,'' Mr. Lister said.

"We may well decide to open it up to a conscience vote, but everybody will have a chance to think about it and talk about it and go from there.'' The majority of PLP MPs are against capital punishment -- which is party policy -- and they alone would be enough to push a bill through.

And Mr. Lister pointed out that only six people had hanged this century, while flogging had not been imposed by the courts for nearly 40 years.

But top Opposition figures said the people had to be consulted before any change in the law was made.

Opposition Leader Pamela Gordon said: "People feel very strongly that there should be abolition for normal offences, but retention for premeditated murder.

"It's going to be interesting how this is handled by the Government. They haven't consulted the people.'' Ms Gordon said capital punishment -- although not used in Bermuda for more than 20 years -- could act as a deterrent, although she added that in some cases, it had proved not to have done.

But she insisted: "In a democracy, it doesn't hurt to give the people the last say.'' And Legislative Affairs spokesman and United Bermuda Party House leader John Barritt said, if hanging was to go, more severe alternative punishments -- like life without parole or even hard labour -- would have to be considered.

Consult the public -- UBP Government to go in the direction of abolition.'' The UK's White Paper on a rewrite of relations with the Overseas Territories said hanging and flogging would have to go -- and Bermuda is the only overseas territory to retain both on its books.

UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said if full UK citizenship was taken up by the overseas territories, they would have to toe the line on UK treaty obligations.

And he warned if hanging did not go, Britain could use an Act of Parliament to abolish it., Mr. Barritt said: "If the Government is contemplating abolition because we have to, then we just can't abolish it and not put something effective in its place.

"But we will give some detail of what we are proposing when we make our official reply.'' Mr. Lister said abolition was not in the PLP's election manifesto and that, had the UK not brought up the issue, it would have probably been left alone.

And he insisted other penalties would be looked at if Parliament voted to end hanging.

Mr. Lister said: "At this point, we're going to consult and study and see what the appropriate penalties should be.

"At the moment, there are different levels of penalty depending on the type of crime.

"Post-hanging, if it should come to that, we will have to have a different level of penalties to ensure it's appropriate for the level of crime committed.'' But Ms Gordon -- who met Overseas Territories Minister Baroness Elizabeth Scotland in London last week -- said the UK's line appeared to be softening: "She said this is the UK's position -- but that they were prepared to listen to the Overseas Territories because they were no longer prepared to ram down people's throats the UK's way of thinking.

"I was assured that the issue will certainly have no effect on the issue of citizenship.'' But Mr. Lister said: "I'm pretty sure it would pass the House -- but that doesn't mean we'd take it lightly or ride roughshod over people.''