BHUTAN. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ABOLISHED

Although capital punishment existed in law, it was not being invoked. And if the courts awarded capital punishment the King had the legal authority to repeal it. Bhutan being a Buddhist nation, capital punishment was seen as a contradiction to the basic doctrines of their religion. Capital punishment had existed in Bhutanese law since the codification of the Thrimzhung Chhenmo (supreme law) in 1953 and the judiciary had come under criticism, even in the National Assembly, for not invoking the law in the most severe criminal cases.
Bhutan had previously been classed by Hands Off Cain as a de facto abolitionist country.
Although capital punishment was included in the country´s laws for the crimes of premeditated murder and treason, it had not been put into practice since 1964.