Pardon for Morant , Handcock and Witton Pardon for Morant , Handcock and Witton refers to various attempts to secure a pardon for three Australian soldiers convicted of war crime s by the British military during the Second Boer War . Following four separate courts martial in early 1902 , during the Second Boer War , Lieutenants Peter Joseph Handcock ( 1868 - 1902 ) and Harry Harbord Morant ( 1864 - 1902 ) , also known as " Breaker " Morant , of the Bushveldt Carbineers , were executed by a firing squad of Cameron Highlanders , in Pretoria , South Africa , on 27 February 1902 , 18 hours after they had been sentenced . Despite the court recommending mercy in both cases , Lord Kitchener confirmed their death sentences . Kitchener personally signed their death warrants . Following the court also recommending mercy in his case , the sentence of a third brother officer , Lieutenant George Ramsdale Witton ( 1874 - 1942 ) , was commuted to life imprisonment by Lord Kitchener . Following public pressure , Witton was released , but never pardoned , on 11 August 1904 . As part of an extended historical process ( dating from the time of the original courts martial in 1902 ) , and seeking to redress alleged injustices towards all three men , and to gain formal recognition that the verdicts convicting the three for murder , were , in each case , " unsafe verdicts " , an Australian military lawyer , Commander James William Unkles , of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve sent petitions for pardons for Morant , Handcock , and Witton to both Queen Elizabeth II and to the Petitions Committee of the Australian House of Representatives in October 2009 . The British Government chose to not issue a pardon in November 2010 as there was no historical evidence to justify overturning the court martial decision . The Australian Government announced in May 2012 that it would not seek a pardon for Morant from the British Government as he and the other two men were guilty of killing the prisoners . Major James Francis Thomas . In their courts - martial , the accused Morant , Handcock , and Witton were all defended by James Francis Thomas ( 1861 - 1946 ) , a solicitor from Tenterfield , New South Wales . Whilst he had studied law at Sydney University , served as an articled clerk in a reputable Sydney law practice , and had been admitted ( unconditionally ) to practise as a " solicitor " ( N . B . , but not as a " barrister " ) on 28 May 1887 , Thomas had no substantial courtroom experience of any kind . Thomas had previously served with distinction , with the rank of Captain in the New South Wales Citizens ' Bushmen Contingent . In 1902 , he was unattached , and in South Africa , and solely due to his experience as a solicitor , was suddenly promoted to Major and coerced into representing the three accused ; despite having no experience of any sort of the theory and practice of military law , or of the role of a barrister . Principle of condonation in British military law . The principle of condonation in British military law is traced back to the " Memorandum on Corporal Punishment " issued by the Duke of Wellington on 4 March 1832 : According to Clode ' s " Military Forces of the Crown ( 1869 ) : Legal opinion ( Isaac Isaacs , 1902 ) . On 28 August 1902 , the Member for Indi in the Federal Parliament ( 1901 - 1906 ) , the eminent jurist , King ' s Counsel , future Attorney - General of Australia ( 1905 - 1906 ) , and future Governor - General of Australia ( 1931 - 1936 ) , Isaac ( later , Sir Isaac ) Isaacs ( 1855 - 1948 ) , published a legal opinion which recommended that George Witton petition the British monarch , King Edward VII , for a pardon . Witton petition ( 1904 ) . In 1904 a printed petition to King Edward VII was circulated in Australia , for signature by interested parties , requesting clemency in the form of ( a ) a pardon for George Witton , and ( b ) the immediate release of Witton from his incarceration . At least one copy of the petition , signed by thirty - seven individuals from the town of Colebrook , Tasmania , is extant . The petition , it seems , was never sent on to its final destination , and this was , most likely , because Witton had been released from custody ( on 11 August 1904 ) before it could be sent . Unkles ' Petitions ( October 2009 ) . In October 2009 , the Australian military lawyer , Commander James William Unkles , of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve sent petitions for pardons for Morant , Handcock , and Witton to both Queen Elizabeth II and to the Petitions Committee of the Australian House of Representatives in October 2009 . The first petition was considered by the British Government , on behalf of the Queen — " The petition argued that the convictions were unsafe and that their trial was unfair because the men were denied the right to communicate with the Australian government , refused an opportunity to prepare their cases and blocked from lodging an appeal . " — and , in November 2010 , the UK Ministry of Defence issued a statement that the appeal had been rejected : The second petition was considered by the House of Representatives ' Petitions Committee at a public hearing on Monday , 15 March 2010 . Unkles appeared before the committee , along with others , including the historian Craig Wilcox . On Monday , 27 February 2012 , in a speech delivered to the House of Representatives on the 110 - year anniversary of the sentencing of the three men , Alex Hawke , M . P . described the case for the pardons as " strong and compelling " . Roxon ' s rejection ( May 2012 ) . In May 2012 , Attorney General Nicola Roxon informed Unkles that the Australian Government would not seek a pardon for Morant from the British Government , on the grounds that Morant , Handcock and Witton did , in fact , kill unarmed Boer prisoners and others . Roxon ' s letter to Unkles stated that in Australia " a pardon for a Commonwealth offence would generally only be granted where the offender is both morally and technically innocent of the offence " . Moreover , her letter stated that " Despite the time that has passed . . . I consider seeking a pardon . . . could be rightly perceived as glossing over very grave criminal acts " . Following Roxon ' s decision , Robert McClelland , who served as Australia ' s Attorney - General , from 3 December 2007 to 14 December 2011 ( immediately preceding Roxon ) , said that he had " concerns over a failure of procedural fairness for Morant and his two co - accused " , and announced that " he had decided on principle to write to the British government in his capacity as a private citizen who was a member of parliament " . High Court application ( 2013 ) . In July 2013 , Unkles said he was planning to file documentation to the High Court in August seeking " a review of the British government decision not to help an independent inquiry " .