Estonia abolished the death penalty for all crimes on May 13, 1998.

Estonia abolished the death penalty for all crimes on May 13, 1998. In December 1996, the Estonian Parliament had adopted an amendment to the criminal code introducing life imprisonment as an alternative to the death sentence. In 1998, following abolition, the sentences of the eight prisoners on death row were commuted to life imprisonment.
On February 25, 2004 Estonia deposited with the Council of Europe the instrument of ratification of Protocol No 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms banning the death penalty in all circumstances. The last time capital punishment was carried out in Estonia was in 1991. Estonia co-sponsored the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 20, 2005.