The death penalty is mandatory for murder

The death penalty is mandatory for murder. Treason and piracy are also capital crimes. The Bahamas is a British Independent Territory for which the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JPC) remains the final court of appeal.
The United Kingdom has urged its former colonies to abolish capital punishment and human rights groups have added their voices. But residents of the Bahamas and many Caribbean nations support the death penalty as a deterrent to rising crime. A particularly important case was that concerning David Mitchell and John Higgs, both of which were sentenced to death.
In 1999 the Privy Council rejected their appeals, but two of five judges dissented. Lord Steyn and Lord Cook affirmed that because of their inhuman conditions of detention, Mitchell and Higgs should not be executed.