Jamaica
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist de facto
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Jamaica is a British Independent Territory that retains...
- News items in the archive
- 122
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Jamaica is classified as Abolitionist de facto in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 122 news items on Jamaica, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- DECEMBER 1, 2008JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
AMNESTY CRITICISES JAMAICA DEATH PENALTY VOTE
Amnesty International urged Jamaica to reform its justice system rather than resume executions to deal with violent crime.
- NOVEMBER 25, 2008JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO KEEP DEATH PENALTY
Jamaica's Parliament easily rejected a proposal to ban the death penalty in a vote propelled by the country's
- NOVEMBER 20, 2008JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
AMNESTY: DEATH PENALTY NOT BEST FOR JAMAICA
Amnesty International joined voices globally advising the Jamaican Government to remove the death penalty from its books.
- NOVEMBER 17, 2008JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: FEMALE JUDGE SPEAKS ABOUT DEATH PENALTY
Mrs Clara Ogunbiyi is a female judge of the Court of Appeal, Lagos division in Nigeria
- NOVEMBER 12, 2008JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA: GOV'T, OPPOSITION AGREE TO CONTINUE DEBATE ON DEATH PENALTY
the Jamaican Government and Opposition agreed on a formula allowing the historical debate on capital punishment to continue at Gordon House with full participation from both sides
- AUGUST 18, 2008JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA: 25 YO MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DOUBLE MURDER
twenty five year old August Town fisherman Junior 'Simple' Campbell of Jamaica was sentenced to death for the murder of a couple within his volatile St Andrew community three years ago.
- JULY 22, 2008JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICAN PARLIAMENT TO REVISIT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN SEPTEMBER
the Jamaican Government says it will soon make known its position on the execution of convicted killers.
- JANUARY 1, 2008JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
On the issue of capital punishment, the Jamaica Constitution states...
On the issue of capital punishment, the Jamaica Constitution states, "No person shall intentionally be deprived of his life save in execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been convicted".
- DECEMBER 18, 2007JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
Jamaica voted against the Resolution...
Jamaica voted against the Resolution...
- DECEMBER 14, 2007JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA: NO DEATH PENALTY REFERENDUM
the Government says it has no plans at this time to hold a referendum on the future of the death penalty in Jamaica.
- NOVEMBER 2, 2007JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA: CONVICT GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR FORMER JGRA PRESIDENT’S MURDER
forty year old Peter Dougal, the man convicted of the murder of former President of the Jamaica Gasoline Retailers Association, Lloyd G. Brown, and his companion, Sandra Campbell, was sentenced to death in the Home Circuit Court, Jamaica.
- OCTOBER 3, 2007JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA: LAW MAKERS TO HAVE CONSCIENCE VOTE ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
thirty years after the historic conscience debate on the controversial issue of hanging raged in the Parliamentary arena...
- JANUARY 1, 2007JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
On the issue of capital punishment, the Jamaica Constitution states...
On the issue of capital punishment, the Jamaica Constitution states, "No person shall intentionally be deprived of his life save in execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been convicted".
- MAY 14, 2006JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA. DEATH PENALTY 'STALEMATE' REMAINS
"As long as the law remains as it is, nobody is going to be hanged in Jamaica. Nobody," Justice Minister Senator A.J. Nicholson was reported to have said.
- MARCH 24, 2006JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA. HANG CONVICTED CHILD KILLERS, SENATOR MUNROE
Jamaican Government senator Trevor Munroe advocated the hanging of convicted child killers.
- MARCH 19, 2006JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA. PARLIAMENT ALLOWS DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDERS ASSOCIATED WITH BURGLARY
amendments to the Offences Against the Person Act, allowing for the application of the death penalty for murders associated with burglary, were passed in Jamaica’s Upper House.
- JANUARY 1, 2006JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
On the issue of capital punishment, the Jamaica Constitution states...
On the issue of capital punishment, the Jamaica Constitution states, "No person shall intentionally be deprived of his life save in execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been convicted".
- DECEMBER 19, 2005JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA. EU FUNDS FIGHT AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY IN JAMAICA
it was reported that the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights (IJCHR) was set to intensify its campaign for the abolition of the death penalty in Jamaica. The IJCHR signed a contract with the European Union for J $24 million to be pumped into the
- AUGUST 18, 2005JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA. 25 DEATH ROW PRISONERS HAVE SENTENCE COMMUTED TO LIFE
it was reported that some 25 inmates of the Catherine Adult Centre Correctional Centre, Jamaica, were taken off death row and had their sentences commuted to life following the August 16 stabbing of former death row Prisoner Stephen Palmer, 32.
- JUNE 8, 2005JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA. JLP SHADOW CABINET TO ISSUE FORMAL REPLY ON DEATH PENALTY DELAY
it was reported that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was to formally reply to what it described as "blatant misrepresentations" made recently by Attorney-General A J Nicholson regarding delays in the administering of the death penalty.
- MAY 28, 2005JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA. COUNTRY’S TWO MAJOR PARTIES DISAGREE ON DEATH PENALTY
in the wake of calls for more steps to be taken in the fight against crime...
- APRIL 16, 2005BarbadosDEATH PENALTY
CARIBBEAN. LEADERS INAUGURATE OWN COURT OF JUSTICE
Caribbean leaders inaugurated a court that would serve as the highest judicial body for much of the region, a step toward shedding their 170-year-old dependence on Britain's Privy Council that many had resented as a vestige of colonialism.
- JANUARY 1, 2005JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
On the issue of capital punishment, the Jamaica Constitution states...
On the issue of capital punishment, the Jamaica Constitution states, "No person shall intentionally be deprived of his life save in execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been convicted".
- NOVEMBER 26, 2004JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
the Jamaican Senate passed far reaching legislative amendments...
the Jamaican Senate passed far reaching legislative amendments, ending the mandatory death sentence for capital murder.
- OCTOBER 5, 2004JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
The Jamaican government brought to Parliament an amendment...
The Jamaican government brought to Parliament an amendment to the Offences against the Person Act to give judges greater sentencing discretion in capital murder convictions after July's ruling by the Privy Council that the death penalty was not mandatory
- OCTOBER 1, 2004JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
the Jamaica government said it wanted legislators to debate the issue of the death penalty
the Jamaica government said it wanted legislators to debate the issue of the death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
The Department of Correctional Services in Jamaica...
The Department of Correctional Services in Jamaica said it would be seeking legal advice on the status of several death row inmates who had been staging various protests for the past week
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2004JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
Jamaica's Opposition leader Edward Seaga described...
Jamaica's Opposition leader Edward Seaga described the proposed Caribbean Court of Justice as a "kangaroo court" which would be used by the government to violate human rights
- JULY 28, 2004JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
Kingston, Jamaica: Prime Minister P
Kingston, Jamaica: Prime Minister P
- JULY 9, 2004JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
There was mixed Caribbean reaction to three separate...
There was mixed Caribbean reaction to three separate decisions handed down by the London-based Privy Council in death penalty