Canada abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes...

Canada abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 1976 and for military offenses on December 10, 1998. The last execution was in 1962. Homicide statistics released for 1998 by Statistics Canada in October 1999 show the lowest murder rate in 30 years. The rate is 1.83 homicides per 100,000 people compared with 3.02 homicides per 100,000 in 1975, the year prior to abolition of the death penalty in Canada. For years Canada was the only western country that regularly handed over suspected criminals to the United Sates and other countries without asking for guarantees against execution. The Supreme Court's ruling on the Burns and Rafay case, issued on February 15, 2001 brought about a major change in the Canadian extradition policy. Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay, both Canadian nationals, were wanted for murder in the US, where murder is punishable by death. For the first time Canada refused to extradite its citizens, putting an end to its policy of extraditing without asking for guarantees regarding the non-application of the death penalty, except in exceptional cases.The Supreme Court ruling reversed this policy, stating that guarantees against the death penalty must always be sought, except in exceptional cases.