Samoa commenced formal measures to abolish the death penalty on January 16, 2004

Samoa commenced formal measures to abolish the death penalty on January 16, 2004 and on January 21, 2004, the Head of State, Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili II, gave his assent to the removal of the death penalty from the statute books. The abolition bill was introduced in parliament by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and had the support of the leaders of the opposition. It won quick passage.
The last execution in Samoa took place in 1952. Although the death sentence was still delivered by judges, it was always commuted to life imprisonment. The last time the death penalty was carried out in Samoa - when a man was hanged for axing his wife to death - the country was still under New Zealand control. New Zealand abolished capital punishment in 1961, but when Samoa gained independence in 1962 it retained the former New Zealand law to punish crimes of murder and treason.