The death penalty was abolished for ordinary crimes in 1961,

The death penalty was abolished for ordinary crimes in 1961, then fully abolished, and replaced with life imprisonment in 1989. The last execution dates back to 1957.
The Abolition of the Death Penalty Act allows New Zealand to decline to extradite an offender who risks the death sentence in the requesting country. The provision is to be read in conjunction with the Extradition Act of 1965, 5A, that states: "the Minister of Justice may decline to order the surrender of an offender to a foreign country if it appears to the Minister that the offender has been sentenced to death or is liable to be so sentenced by the appropriate authority in the country to which his or her surrender is sought." There are other norms to be read in conjunction with the Fugitive Offenders Act of 1881, allowing for a similar power of refusal following an extradition request for a capital offender made by a Commonwealth country.
On December 18, 2008 New Zealand co-sponsored and voted in favour of the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.