United Kingdom
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- constitutional monarchy
- CONSTITUTION
- unwritten, partly common law, partly customs and statutes
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on common law traditions with some influences from the modern Roman and continental system, acts of Parliament are not reviewed by the judiciary
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, House of Commons and House of Lords
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- House of Lords (is the highest court of appeal) some Lords are appointed for life by the Queen
RELIGIONS
Christians 59.5%, Muslims 4.4%, Hindu 1.3%, others 2%, unspecified 7.2%, none 25.7%
From the country
- AUGUST 8, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott welcomed the conviction...
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott welcomed the conviction of first Bali bombing suspect Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, and said that, despite its opposition to the death penalty, the British Government would not to try to stop the Indonesian authorities from car
- AUGUST 8, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of...
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of carrying out a wave of bombings in Saudi Arabia in 2000 and early 2001 were freed by the Gulf state
- AUGUST 7, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The families of British Bali bombing victims will ask...
The families of British Bali bombing victims will ask for Amrozi bin Nurhasyim's death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment amid fears execution will turn him into a martyr
- JULY 23, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Two Britons captured as part of the US "war on terror"...
Two Britons captured as part of the US "war on terror" and held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba will not face the death penalty, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said
- JULY 23, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Two Britons captured as part of the US "war on terror"...
Two Britons captured as part of the US "war on terror" and held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba will not face the death penalty, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said
- JULY 10, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Italy's EU presidency was urged to ensure that the...
Italy's EU presidency was urged to ensure that the rights of terrorist suspects facing secret US military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay were respected
- JULY 9, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government...
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government was pressing Washington behind the scenes to ensure the planned trials of terrorism suspects jailed at Guantanamo Bay would not violate international law
- JUNE 16, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Two members of the Peoples Mujahedeen who have lived...
Two members of the Peoples Mujahedeen who have lived in Britain as political refugees for decades were recently arrested in Syria and handed over to the clerical regime in Tehran, the Iranian opposition movement said
- JUNE 10, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
George Kelly, 27, who was executed for the murder of...
George Kelly, 27, who was executed for the murder of Leonard Thomas, the manager of a cinema in Liverpool, during a robbery in March 1949, had his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal
- APRIL 27, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The Observer Sunday newspaper printed the results of...
The Observer Sunday newspaper printed the results of a nationwide poll on criminality: "Do you believe that the death penalty should be re-introduced in Britain for certain crimes? Yes 67% No 33%
- APRIL 24, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
United Kingdom was a cosponsor and voted in favour...
United Kingdom was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- APRIL 19, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The London-based Privy Council upheld an appeal by...
The London-based Privy Council upheld an appeal by Bimal Roy Paria, a 29-year-old man in Trinidad and Tobago, who had been sentenced to death for killing his common law wife, her mother and sister on 24 July 1998