Constitutional prohibitions of the death penalty

Índice: ACT 50/009/2005
Fecha de publicación: 4 abril 2005

Out of the 84 countries in the world which have to date abolished the death penalty for all crimes, at least 42 have prohibited it in their constitutions. Almost all of these prohibitions and restrictions have been on human rights grounds. This paper sets forth the texts of the relevant constitutional provisions. These examples may encourage other countries to adopt similar provisions. The document contains three tables which list countries which prohibit the death penalty; those which restrict the scope of the death penalty; and grounds for prohibiting or restricting the death penalty.