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 4, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International UK campaigners held a vigil at...
Amnesty International UK campaigners held a vigil at London's Westminster Abbey for British born Jackie Elliott, due to be executed in Texas, USA, for a murder committed in 1986
- FEBRUARY 3, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
"It is outrageous that they haven't taken DNA tests...
"It is outrageous that they haven't taken DNA tests which are very necessary and which could prove his innocence," Conservative MP John Gummer said in relation to Jackie Elliot's case, a UK national sentenced to die in Texas, USA
- FEBRUARY 3, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
"It is outrageous that they haven't taken DNA tests...
"It is outrageous that they haven't taken DNA tests which are very necessary and which could prove his innocence," Conservative MP John Gummer said in relation to Jackie Elliot's case, a UK national sentenced to die in Texas, USA
- JANUARY 24, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
John Gummer, UK Conservative MP, met county sheriffs,...
John Gummer, UK Conservative MP, met county sheriffs, district attorneys and parole board members in Austin, Texas, to plea for the life of British born Jackie Elliott, on death row following a 1987 conviction for raping and murdering a woman
- JANUARY 24, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
John Gummer, UK Conservative MP, met county sheriffs,...
John Gummer, UK Conservative MP, met county sheriffs, district attorneys and parole board members in Austin, Texas, to plea for the life of British born Jackie Elliott, on death row following a 1987 conviction for raping and murdering a woman
- JANUARY 1, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The United Kingdom has signed and ratified Protocol...
The United Kingdom has signed and ratified Protocol No 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms banning the death penalty in all circumstances
- JANUARY 1, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The United Kingdom abolished the death penalty for...
The United Kingdom abolished the death penalty for murder on December 18, 1969 when both Houses of Parliament voted to remove a clause in the Murder Act 1965 restricting the abolition of the death penalty to five years
- JANUARY 1, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
There were 865 executions in Britain during the first...
There were 865 executions in Britain during the first 64 years of the 20th century
- DECEMBER 2, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The British Foreign Office unveiled a 23-page human...
The British Foreign Office unveiled a 23-page human rights dossier on Iraq and Saddam Hussein entitled "the barbarity of his regime"
- NOVEMBER 7, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Euro-MP Glenys Kinnock renewed calls for Miss Wales...
Euro-MP Glenys Kinnock renewed calls for Miss Wales to abandon her aesthetic ambition
- NOVEMBER 7, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Prince Edward has withdrawn from a reception in honour...
Prince Edward has withdrawn from a reception in honour of this year's controversial Miss World contest, Buckingham Palace said
- NOVEMBER 6, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Miss Scotland Paula Murphy called on the nation to...
Miss Scotland Paula Murphy called on the nation to back her decision not to boycott the Miss World contest
- OCTOBER 25, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Abu Qatada, a Moslem cleric said to be Osama Bin Laden's...
Abu Qatada, a Moslem cleric said to be Osama Bin Laden's European 'ambassador' has been arrested in Britain
- OCTOBER 22, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Britain announced the abolition of capital punishment...
Britain announced the abolition of capital punishment for treason and piracy in the Turks and Caicos Islands, with the agreement of the government of that territory
- OCTOBER 9, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
A Pakistani businessman who fled the United Arab Emirates...
A Pakistani businessman who fled the United Arab Emirates after being accused of drugs offences lost a court battle against extradition from Britain
- OCTOBER 8, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
A call for child killers to receive the death penalty...
A call for child killers to receive the death penalty is to be voted on by Ulster councillors tonight
- OCTOBER 6, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Mohammed Fakhar Al Zaman Lodhi, a Pakistani businessman...
Mohammed Fakhar Al Zaman Lodhi, a Pakistani businessman who fled the United Arab Emirates after being accused of drugs offences lost a court battle against extradition from Britain
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The Daily Telegraph ran an article on Daniella Laun,...
The Daily Telegraph ran an article on Daniella Laun, Miss England World 2002, and her intentions not to boycott the Miss World contest in Nigeria so as to raise her voice at the event in favour of Amina Lawal, a Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stonin
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
A British man was spared the death penalty but jailed...
A British man was spared the death penalty but jailed for life in Thailand for smuggling 4kg of heroin out of the country
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The UK Government has been urged to intervene in the...
The UK Government has been urged to intervene in the case of a Briton facing a possible death penalty in Thailand for smuggling drugs
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
A woman whose niece was murdered 16 years ago led a...
A woman whose niece was murdered 16 years ago led a rally in York in support of restoring capital punishment for child killers
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
After a cacophony of screams and shouted abuse and...
After a cacophony of screams and shouted abuse and a hail of cans, coins and eggs, the man accused of the murder of two young girls made his first appearance in court in the United Kingdom
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Hollywood star Susan Sarandon called for the retrial...
Hollywood star Susan Sarandon called for the retrial of a Scottish man awaiting execution in America
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Hollywood star Susan Sarandon called for the retrial...
Hollywood star Susan Sarandon called for the retrial of a Scottish man awaiting execution in America
- AUGUST 28, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The parent of a teenager murdered in 1973 is refusing...
The parent of a teenager murdered in 1973 is refusing to back calls for the return of the death penalty for child killers
- AUGUST 21, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The Express newspaper ran an article demanding that...
The Express newspaper ran an article demanding that there be a Parliamentary debate on the re-introduction of the death penalty
- AUGUST 20, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
A national debate on the restoration of the death penalty...
A national debate on the restoration of the death penalty for the most heinous murders was advocated by Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative Home Office minister
- AUGUST 19, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Britain expressed concern to the Nigerian government...
Britain expressed concern to the Nigerian government over the Appeal Court ruling upholding the death sentence by stoning passed on Amina Lawal Kurami, a woman convicted of adultery under the country's Sharia law
- AUGUST 19, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Following the retrieval of the dead bodies of Jessica...
Following the retrieval of the dead bodies of Jessica and Holly Chapman, two ten year old girls who had disappeared earlier on in the month, the Daily Mail newspaper printed an article by Mary Kenny pushing for the re-introduction of the death penalty
- AUGUST 19, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
In an editorial in the Daily Mirror, Tony Parsons that...
In an editorial in the Daily Mirror, Tony Parsons that to deal with the killers of Jessica and Holly Chapman "the answer is obvious - bring back the death penalty