Constitutional prohibitions of the death penalty

Index Number: ACT 50/006/1996
Date Published: 31 May 1996

Out of the 57 countries in the world which have abolished the death penalty for all crimes to date, 24 have gone on to prohibit the death penalty in their constitutions, often on human rights grounds. This makes the abolition even more secure. Five other countries have constitutional provisions which limit the crimes for which the death penalty can be imposed. The texts of the relevant constitutional provisions are set forth in this paper.