Taiwan
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 1
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In November 1997, the Parliament approved the death...
- News items in the archive
- 282
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Taiwan is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 1 the year before. The archive holds 282 news items on Taiwan, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- JANUARY 12, 2005TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
a man convicted of pushing six Chinese women to their deaths...
a man convicted of pushing six Chinese women to their deaths...
- JANUARY 7, 2005TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
the Legislative Yuan ratified an overhaul of the Criminal Code that will gradually phase out the death penalty
the Legislative Yuan ratified an overhaul of the Criminal Code that will gradually phase out the death penalty
- DECEMBER 12, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Human rights and legal advocacy groups urged the abolition of the death penalty
Human rights and legal advocacy groups urged the abolition of the death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Five Taiwanese nationals were sentenced to death in...
Five Taiwanese nationals were sentenced to death in southeast China's Fujian province after being convicted of trafficking the illegal methamphetamine drug 'ice'
- AUGUST 27, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The supreme court of Taiwan upheld a death sentence...
The supreme court of Taiwan upheld a death sentence handed to Wang Chung-hsiung, a boat captain, for the drowning of six mainland Chinese women
- AUGUST 1, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice's opened prison facilities to the public.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice's opened prison facilities to the public.
- JUNE 9, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
A Taiwan high court judge turned down the appeal by...
A Taiwan high court judge turned down the appeal by Chen Chao-chin against the death sentence by the Keelung district court for hiring a killer to assassinate a rival candidate for the city legislature
- JUNE 1, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The Church was fighting for the abolition of the death...
The Church was fighting for the abolition of the death penalty in Taiwan, cardinal Paul Shan said in an interview for the Catholic press agency Fides
- MAY 21, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court of Taiwan said it could find no fault...
The Supreme Court of Taiwan said it could find no fault with the case of Hsu Tzu-chiang , a death-row inmate whose conviction had been surrounded with controversy for almost a decade
- MAY 8, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The Judicial Reform Foundation announced its intention...
The Judicial Reform Foundation announced its intention to seek international support to help Hsu Tzu-chiang , a death-row inmate whose case has been controversial for years
- APRIL 12, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
On January 8, 2002, Taiwan’s parliament abolished the Act for the Control and Punishment of Banditry, commonly known as the Bandit Law.
On January 8, 2002, Taiwan’s parliament abolished the Act for the Control and Punishment of Banditry, commonly known as the Bandit Law.
- APRIL 10, 2004TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Taiwanese nationals Suo Guizhi and Chen Qingbiao were...
Taiwanese nationals Suo Guizhi and Chen Qingbiao were sentenced to death and three others were given jail terms after court in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai convicted them of drug trafficking
- DECEMBER 26, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The nation's overall human rights record improved in...
The nation's overall human rights record improved in 2003, while there is still room for improvement in various areas, according to the government's annual human rights report
- DECEMBER 10, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Local human rights advocates in Taiwan called on the...
Local human rights advocates in Taiwan called on the government to abolish capital punishment as the world marked Human Rights Day
- NOVEMBER 29, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The number of executions carried out in Taiwan had...
The number of executions carried out in Taiwan had decreased in recent years, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ)
- NOVEMBER 25, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The Miaoli District Court in central Taiwan sentenced...
The Miaoli District Court in central Taiwan sentenced to death Wang Chung-hsing, the skipper of a smuggling boat, for drowning six Chinese illegal women immigrants by throwing them off a boat while trying to escape from authorities
- NOVEMBER 9, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Taiwan's Vice President Annette Lu called on parliament...
Taiwan's Vice President Annette Lu called on parliament to better safeguard human rights by approving a draft of the country's first "human rights basic law", including the abolition of the death penalty
- OCTOBER 29, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Taipei Minister without Portfolio Hsu Chih-hsiung said...
Taipei Minister without Portfolio Hsu Chih-hsiung said that an anti-terrorism law approved by the country's Cabinet that included the death penalty did not contradict the government's goal of abolishing executions
- OCTOBER 29, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
An anti-terrorism law envisaging the death penalty...
An anti-terrorism law envisaging the death penalty was approved by the Taipei Cabinet
- OCTOBER 27, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Taiwan's government was drafting legislation to abolish...
Taiwan's government was drafting legislation to abolish the death penalty, an unnamed cabinet official was reported as saying
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
A group of legislators from the opposition People First...
A group of legislators from the opposition People First Party (PFP) suggested that the law enforcement authorities prescribe capital punishment for "snakehead" ringleaders to stem human trafficking across the Taiwan Strait
- JUNE 26, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Chang Chi-hsien, a Taiwanese man convicted of drug...
Chang Chi-hsien, a Taiwanese man convicted of drug trafficking, was executed in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen, the Beijing Times newspaper said
- MAY 28, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The movement toward the abolition of the death penalty...
The movement toward the abolition of the death penalty in Taiwan progressed in 2002, although nine people were executed and 100 convicted prisoners remained on death row, Amnesty International said
- JANUARY 15, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
A human rights protection panel under the Executive...
A human rights protection panel under the Executive Yuan [government] asked the Ministry of Justice to make the death penalty optional instead of mandatory as it now is in some cases as a first step toward eliminating capital punishment
- JANUARY 14, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International issued a statement welcoming...
Amnesty International issued a statement welcoming the release of the "Hsichih Trio": Su Chien-ho, Liu Bing-lang and Chuang Lin-hsun, death row inmates who were acquitted by the Taiwan High Court of all charges brought against them for the murder of a cou
- JANUARY 14, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
A lawyer representing the family of the victims of...
A lawyer representing the family of the victims of the 1991 Hsichih double murder said he would ask the prosecutor to appeal against the Taiwan High Court's acquittal of the Hsichih Trio
- JANUARY 13, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Taiwan's most famous death row convicts emerged blinking...
Taiwan's most famous death row convicts emerged blinking into freedom and a media scrum after the island's High Court declared them not guilty of a vicious double murder more than a decade ago
- JANUARY 13, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Taiwan freed three men who had been on death row for...
Taiwan freed three men who had been on death row for more than a decade in a brutal robbery-murder case that had put the island's human rights record in the spotlight
- JANUARY 1, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
In the past five years, the number of prisoners executed...
In the past five years, the number of prisoners executed in Taiwan has shown a clear decline, a result of greater consideration of human rights protection as well as amendments to mandatory death penalty laws
- NOVEMBER 25, 2002TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
Taiwan was hit by a wave of deaths and hospitalisations...
Taiwan was hit by a wave of deaths and hospitalisations from the consumption of bootleg rice wine that contains methanol, a poisonous substance found in industrial alcohol