The prohibition of the death penalty is enshrined in the 1952 Bill of Rights, incorporated in Article II of the Constitution.

The prohibition of the death penalty is enshrined in the 1952 Bill of Rights, incorporated in Article II of the Constitution. Section 7 states: ‘The death penalty shall not exist.’ Puerto Rico carried out the last execution in 1927, and banned capital punishment in 1929. However its status as a Commonwealth of the United States means it is under US federal jurisdiction, and the US as recently as 2003 has sought the death penalty on federal charges in the trial of two men accused of kidnapping and murder. Kidnapping is a federal offence and prosecutors claimed that federal criminal laws override local laws, including the Puerto Rican Constitution. Legislation implemented in 1994 allows federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for several crimes in states and territories that have banned it. In Puerto Rico there was a public outcry against the request for the death penalty by the US prosecutors. Community and religious organisations called it an affront to the Puerto Rican culture. In the event the two men were acquitted, but the case re-ignited the debate about the island’s political status.