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Reference on the death penalty

Graphic: Man sits alone on a bed in cell

At the 4th Annual Meeting (1999), the Forum Council requested the ACJ to consider a reference on the death penalty.

The ACJ was asked to consider the range of offences for which international human rights law permits imposition of the death penalty, the nature and scope of procedural guarantees required by international law, and whether there are any restrictions that may be required by international human rights law on the manner and method of carrying out the death penalty.

In its Final Report, the ACJ voiced scepticism as to whether the use of the death penalty could ever be compatible with a just society. It urged States to move towards de facto, and eventual de jure, abolition of the death penalty.

The ACJ also recommended that those States choosing to retain the death penalty should limit its imposition to the most serious offences and ensure that procedural safeguards set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other relevant international law be strictly followed.



Image credits

  1. Man sits alone on a bed in cell - APF/Michael Power