The Question of the Death Penalty

A/HRC/RES/42/24View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2019.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2014–2019

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2019	A/HRC/RES/42/24	The question of the death penalty	1,784	54%Compare
2017	A/HRC/RES/36/17	The question of the death penalty	1,685	52%Compare
2015	A/HRC/RES/30/5	The question of the death penalty	1,283	51%Compare
2014	A/HRC/RES/26/2	The question of the death penalty	872	–

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

4 reports · 2015–2021

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2021	A/HRC/48/29	Question of the death penalty report of the Secretary-General	A/HRC/RES/42/24
2019	A/HRC/42/28	Capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty yearly supplement of the Secretary-General to his quinquennial report on capital punishment	A/HRC/RES/36/17
2017	A/HRC/36/26	Capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty yearly supplement of the Secretary-General to his quinquennial report on capital punishment	A/HRC/RES/30/5
2015	A/HRC/30/18	Capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty yearly supplement of the Secretary-General to his quinquennial report on capital punishment	A/HRC/RES/26/2

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Capital Punishment Conferences Crime Prevention Criminal Justice Criminal Statistics Human Rights

What’s in this document?

11 operative paragraphs

Urges all States to protect the rights of persons facing the death penalty and other affected persons by complying with their international obligations;

Calls upon States that have not yet acceded to or ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty to consider doing so;

Calls upon States that have abolished the death penalty or apply a moratorium on its use not to resume the use of the death penalty, and reminds States that are States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and have abolished the death penalty that they are barred from reintroducing it;

Calls upon States that still apply the death penalty to limit its use to “the most serious crimes” and to remove from national laws any application of the death penalty to crimes not involving intentional killing, such as drug-related offences or terrorism-related crimes not involving intentional killing;

Calls upon States to comply with their obligations under article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and to inform foreign nationals of their right to contact the relevant consular post;

Calls upon States that have not yet abolished the death penalty to make available relevant information, disaggregated by gender, age, nationality and other applicable criteria, with regard to their use of the death penalty, inter alia, the charges, number of persons sentenced to death, the number of persons on death row, the number of executions carried out and the number of death sentences reversed, commuted on appeal or in which amnesty or pardon has been granted, as well as information on any scheduled execution, which can contribute to possible informed and transparent national and international debates, including on the obligations of States with regard to the use of the death penalty;

Requests the Secretary-General to dedicate the 2021 supplement to his quinquennial report on capital punishment to the consequences arising at various stages of the imposition and application of the death penalty on the enjoyment of the human rights of persons facing the death penalty and other affected persons, paying specific attention to the consequences of the lack of transparency in the application and imposition of the death penalty on the enjoyment of human rights, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its forty-eighth session;

Decides that the upcoming biennial high-level panel discussion to be held at the forty-sixth session of the Human Rights Council will address the human rights violations related to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to whether the use of the death penalty has a deterrent effect on crime rate;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize the high-level panel discussion and to liaise with States, relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, treaty bodies, special procedures and regional human rights mechanisms, as well as with parliamentarians, civil society, including non-governmental organizations, and national human rights institutions with a view to ensuring their participation in the panel discussion;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a summary report on the panel discussion and to submit it to the Human Rights Council at its forty-eighth session;

Decides to continue its consideration of this issue in accordance with its programme of work.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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