On 26 January 2012, Latvia ratified Protocol No. 13 to the Convention

On 26 January 2012, Latvia ratified Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances.
Latvia signed Protocol No. 13 in 2002, and the law on ratification was adopted by the Parliament on 13 October 2011.
Latvia was the last country of the European Union to retain capital punishment for murder, however only during wartime.
Latvia regained independence in 1991 after fall of the Soviet Union. Subsequently the death penalty in civilian cases was reserved for murder and the only method of executions, as during Soviet times, was shooting with a single bullet to the back of the head. The last executions took place in January 1996. Latvia continued to hand down death sentences until 1998.
On 15 April 1999, the death penalty in time of peace was abolished by ratifying Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights.
On 20 December 2012, Latvia co-sponsored and voted in favour of the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.