United Kingdom
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 abolished...
- News items in the archive
- 423
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
United Kingdom is classified as Abolitionist 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 423 news items on United Kingdom, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- FEBRUARY 10, 2005United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International UK and UK anti-death penalty organisation Reprieve expressed...
Amnesty International UK and UK anti-death penalty organisation Reprieve expressed...
- JANUARY 1, 2005United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The United Kingdom abolished the death penalty for murder on December 18, 1969
The United Kingdom abolished the death penalty for murder on December 18, 1969
- DECEMBER 18, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
the Prince of Wales was reportedly brokering efforts to end the Muslim death penalty
the Prince of Wales was reportedly brokering efforts to end the Muslim death penalty
- DECEMBER 13, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
LONDON. PETER GABRIEL JOINS HOC APPEAL TO UK GOVERNMENT TO ADOPT UN MORATORIUM CAMPAIGN
Hands Off Cain launched its campaign for a worldwide moratorium on executions through a UN resolution in London.
- NOVEMBER 2, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
North Warwickshire MP Mike O'Brien, a former UK Foreign...
North Warwickshire MP Mike O'Brien, a former UK Foreign Office minister, said he intendeded to intervene in the case of convicted drug trafficker Anthony Flanaghan
- NOVEMBER 2, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
British national Anthony Flannaghan was sentenced to...
British national Anthony Flannaghan was sentenced to death in Thailand
- NOVEMBER 2, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that British embassy officials would...
It was reported that British embassy officials would consult with the lawyer of Anthony Flannaghan, a Briton sentenced to death on drug charges, to determine the best time to approach Thai officials in a bid to spare his life
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the British high commission was...
It was reported that the British high commission was bringing in a "specialist" to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea to talk about the death penalty and its impact on the community during a week long seminar on capital punishment
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Equatorial Guinea said it was willing to guarantee...
Equatorial Guinea said it was willing to guarantee that it would not use the death penalty if it were allowed to extradite Sir Mark Thatcher and other British citizens it accused of involvement in a coup plot, the country"s Attorney- General, Jose Olo Obo
- AUGUST 20, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
A survey for the Daily Mail has found that 56% of Britons...
A survey for the Daily Mail has found that 56% of Britons want the death penalty restored for child killers, reflecting the nationwide anguish over the case of murdered 10 year olds Holly and Jessica Chapman
- AUGUST 17, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Denmark has resumed handing over Iraqi detainees to...
Denmark has resumed handing over Iraqi detainees to British forces, after receiving guarantees that no prisoners will face the death penalty
- AUGUST 11, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
prisoners taken by British forces were liable to be executed by the Iraqi authorities
prisoners taken by British forces were liable to be executed by the Iraqi authorities
- AUGUST 10, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Denmark says its forces in Iraq will no longer hand...
Denmark says its forces in Iraq will no longer hand over prisoners to Iraqi authorities after the interim government reinstated the death penalty
- AUGUST 9, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The UK Foreign Office has said Salem Chalabi, the head...
The UK Foreign Office has said Salem Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi tribunal trying Saddam Hussein, will not be extradited on murder charges while he is in London
- JULY 24, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Abu Hamza could not be sent from Britain to the US...
Abu Hamza could not be sent from Britain to the US to face terrorism charges because any guarantee given by the US government not to execute him was worthless, a court was told
- JULY 24, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Abu Hamza could not be sent from Britain to the US...
Abu Hamza could not be sent from Britain to the US to face terrorism charges because any guarantee given by the US government not to execute him was worthless, a court was told
- JULY 9, 2004United KingdomDEATH 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
- JULY 6, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The mandatory death penalty for murder in Jamaica was...
The mandatory death penalty for murder in Jamaica was abolished, winning a reprieve for more than 60 prisoners on death row, in a historic judgment from nine judges sitting in London
- JULY 4, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Although Britain was against the death penalty in principle...
Although Britain was against the death penalty in principle and had conveyed this to Iraq, it was not likely to intervene if the former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, were to be executed after a proper trial by a sovereign Government
- JULY 2, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
British defence Secretary Geoff Hoon expressed doubts...
British defence Secretary Geoff Hoon expressed doubts about whether Saddam Hussein should face the death penalty after his trial in Baghdad
- JUNE 30, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Britain accepted that Saddam Hussein...
It was reported that Britain accepted that Saddam Hussein was likely to be executed by the Iraqi government for war crimes
- JUNE 11, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Judges rejected the latest appeal by Kenny Richey,...
Judges rejected the latest appeal by Kenny Richey, the Scot on death row in America
- JUNE 11, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Judges rejected the latest appeal by Kenny Richey,...
Judges rejected the latest appeal by Kenny Richey, the Scot on death row in America
- JUNE 8, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The London-based Privy Council was expected to hand...
The London-based Privy Council was expected to hand down a ruling that would affect the imposition of the death penalty in several Caribbean countries, according to a statement issued by the Barbados government
- JUNE 7, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
International human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith...
International human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith appealed to Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to help save the life of fellow Scot Kenny Richey who had spent 18 years on Death Row in the US state of Ohio
- JUNE 7, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
International human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith...
International human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith appealed to Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to help save the life of fellow Scot Kenny Richey who had spent 18 years on Death Row in the US state of Ohio
- MAY 30, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Kenny Richey, the Scot who has spent more than 17 years...
Kenny Richey, the Scot who has spent more than 17 years on death row in the United States, said he would rather kill himself than spend any more time in prison
- MAY 28, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Britain wanted to push through an extradition request...
Britain wanted to push through an extradition request for Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical Muslim cleric, as quickly as possible so he could stand trial in the United States on charges of aiding terrorists, the government said
- MAY 23, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the British Foreign Office slipped...
It was reported that the British Foreign Office slipped out a warning that the UK would boycott the upcoming trial of Saddam Hussein if there was any risk of the former dictator being put to death
- MAY 11, 2004United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
"UK soldiers have opened fire and killed civilians...
"UK soldiers have opened fire and killed civilians in southern Iraq in circumstances where there was apparently no imminent threat of death or serious injury to themselves or others," Amnesty International said in a report