NCJ Number
145606
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In 1984, the United Nations Economic and Social Council approved nine safeguards to protect the rights of offenders subject to capital punishment; in 1985, the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders invited countries retaining the death penalty to adopt and implement these safeguards.
Abstract
The safeguards include imposing capital punishment only for the most serious crimes; imposing it only for a crime for which the death penalty was prescribed by law at the time of its commission; and prohibiting capital punishment for persons under age 18 at the time the crime was committed, insane persons, pregnant women, and new mothers. Other requirements include clear and convincing evidence of guilt, the use of appropriate court proceedings, the right of appeal, the right to seek pardon or commutation of sentence, and the use of a method that inflicts the minimum possible suffering. Copies of resolutions of the United Nations units