The abolition of the death penalty

The association places countries in four states: retentionist, abolitionist in practice — no executions for at least ten years —, abolitionist for ordinary crimes, and abolitionist for all crimes. Moving from one state to the next is almost always slow: first the executions stop, then the law changes.

This page collects the news on abolitions, legislative reforms, constitutional rulings and changes of state. The current legal status of every country is in the database.