Capital Punishment in the British Commonwealth

The British Commonwealth comprises 54 member countries (Zimbabwe withdrew in 2003 having been previously suspended), with a combined population of nearly 1.8 billion people, representing some 30% of the world’s population.

Table of Contents

It contains countries with huge populations as well as those with very tiny ones.

Capital punishment is still on the statute book or used by 28 of these countries and has been abolished by 16.

A further 9 countries are abolitionist in practice, although they still retain the death penalty in their penal code.

The death penalty is still a fiercely debated subject in the Caribbean, where only Bermuda has abolished it and Grenada is abolitionist in practice.

There is considerable international pressure on the Caribbean countries to abolish capital punishment, however.

Bangladesh, Botswana, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, and Zimbabwe are the only member countries to have had executions in the period 2003–2013.

India had its first hanging for several years in 2012.

Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore used to have frequent executions.

358 people have been hanged in Malaysia in the last 24 years and over 400 in Singapore in the same period, although there was an unofficial moratorium in both countries in the years 2011 through to mid-2013, while they examined mandatory sentencing provisions for murder and drug offences.

Below is an alphabetical country-by-country breakdown detailing capital punishment status, legal history, and final execution records across the Commonwealth.

Country-by-Country Legal Status and Execution Records

Antigua and Barbuda – Retentionist

The last execution in Antigua and Barbuda took place on the 21st of February 1991, when Tyrone Nicholas was hanged for murder.

Australia – Abolitionist

A total of 128 people were hanged in Australia during the 20th century, utilizing standard British long drop techniques as documented in the evolution of the long drop in the 20th century.

The last executions by state were:

  • New South Wales: John Kelly on August 24th, 1939, in Long Bay Gaol. (Several sources claim the last execution here was in 1940).
  • Northern Territory: Jaroslav Koci and Jan Novotny were hanged at Darwin on the 7th of August 1952, for the murder of a taxi driver.
  • Queensland: Ernest Austin was hanged at Brisbane Gaol on September the 22nd, 1913, for the rape and murder of a little girl.
  • South Australia: Glen Sabre Valance was hanged at Adelaide Gaol on the 24th of November 1964 for the murder of his employer and the rape of his employer’s wife.
  • Tasmania: Frederick Thompson was hanged on February the 14th, 1946, for the rape and murder of eight-year-old Evelyn Maugham.
  • Victoria: Ronald Ryan was hanged at Pentridge Prison on February the 3rd, 1967. Ryan was the last man put to death in Australia, executed for the murder of prison warder George Hodson.
  • Western Australia: Serial killer Eric Cooke was hanged at Fremantle Gaol on October the 26th, 1964.
  • Federal Jurisdiction: No executions were carried out under Federal jurisdiction.

Dates of Abolition in Australia

  • Federal Jurisdiction: Abolished for all offences in 1973.
  • New South Wales: Murder in 1955; treason and military crimes in 1985.
  • Northern Territory: Abolished for all offences in 1973.
  • Queensland: Abolished for all offences in 1922 (the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to do so).
  • South Australia: Abolished for all offences in 1976.
  • Tasmania: Abolished for all offences in 1968.
  • Victoria: Abolished for all offences in 1975.
  • Western Australia: Abolished for all offences in 1984.

Bahamas – Retentionist

David Mitchell was hanged at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, the 6th of January 2000, for the murders of two German tourists.

Bangladesh – Retentionist

The death penalty is actively imposed and carried out under statutory law.

The execution of Abdul Quader Mollah took place on the 12th of December 2013, when he was hanged for war crimes following conviction by the International Crimes Tribunal.

Capital punishment remains ongoing in Bangladesh.

Barbados – Retentionist

The last executions in Barbados were carried out on the 10th of October 1984, when Noel Jordan, Melvin Inniss, and Errol Farrell were hanged for murder.

Belize – Retentionist

The last execution in Belize (formerly British Honduras) was carried out on the 19th of June 1985, when Kent Bowers was hanged at Hattieville Prison for the murder by stabbing of Robert Codd, who was trying to eject Bowers from a private party.

The last female execution took place on the 5th of June 1963, when 36-year-old Nora Parham was hanged for the murder of her husband.

She holds the tragic distinction of being the last woman executed in any British colony.

Bermuda – Abolitionist

The last executions on the island of Bermuda took place on Friday, the 2nd of December 1977, when Erskine Burrows (33) and Larry Tacklyn (26) were hanged just before dawn at Casemates Prison for the murders of five people.

Their victims included Police Commissioner George Duckett, territorial Governor Sir Richard Sharples and his aide-de-camp Captain Hugh Sayers, plus Mark Doe and Victor Rego.

Capital punishment was abolished for murder in Bermuda in January 2000.

Botswana – Retentionist

Capital punishment is retained for murder.

On the 27th of May 2013, Orelesitse Modise Thokamolemo was executed by hanging in Gaborone Central Prison for murder.

Brunei – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

Brunei retains the death penalty in its penal code, but is non-practicing.

The last execution was carried out in 1957.

Cameroon – Retentionist

The last reported execution in Cameroon was carried out in January 1997, when an unnamed man was hanged in Maroua Central Prison.

Canada – Abolitionist

Shortly after midnight on December the 11th, 1962, Ronald Turpin (29) and Arthur Lucas (54) were hanged together in Toronto’s Don Jail, having been convicted of the separate murders of police officers.

Civilian capital punishment for murder was abolished in 1976, and Canada totally abolished capital punishment for all military offences in 1998.

Cyprus – Abolitionist

The last civilian executions for murder were those of Hambis Zacharia, Michael Hiletikos, and Lazaris Demetriou, who were hanged on the 13th of June 1962 in Nicosia Central Prison.

Nine Greek Cypriot men were hanged by British colonial authorities as EOKA fighters between 1956 and 1957.

The death penalty was abolished for murder on the 15th of December 1983, and totally abolished for all crimes on the 19th of April 2002.

Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights came into force on the 1st of February 2000, and Cyprus is a state party to the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.

Dominica – Retentionist

On the 8th of August 1986, Frederick Newton became the last man hanged in Dominica.

He was executed for the murder of a police constable during an armed assault on police headquarters in November 1981 aimed at freeing imprisoned coup conspirators.

Fiji – Abolitionist

Capital punishment was abolished for ordinary crimes in 1964, with the last execution thought to have taken place in that year.

It was subsequently abolished for all crimes, including under military law.

The Gambia – Retentionist

The last judicial executions in The Gambia took place on the 23rd and 24th of August 2012, when eight men and one woman were executed by firing squad for treason and murder.

Following an international outcry, the President announced a temporary conditional moratorium on further executions.

Ghana – Retentionist

On the 25th of July 1993, 12 men were executed by firing squad in Ghana for murder and armed robbery.

Grenada – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

The last execution in Grenada took place on the 17th of October 1978, when Charles Ferguson was hanged for murder.

Guyana – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

The last executions in Guyana took place in August 1997, when Michael Archer and Peter Adams were hanged for murder.

India – Retentionist

India retains capital punishment under the doctrine that the death sentence should be applied only in the “rarest of rare” cases.

Dhananjoy Chatterjee, aged 42, was hanged at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, the 14th of August 2004, at Alipore Central Jail in Kolkata for the rape and murder of an 18-year-old schoolgirl, becoming the first person hanged in India in nearly a decade.

Government records indicate that 14,012 people were hanged in India in the single decade between 1954 and 1963.

Subsequent high-profile hangings have included:

  • Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab: The Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba gunman convicted in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks was hanged at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune on the 21st of November 2012.
  • Afzal Guru: Hanged at Tihar Jail in New Delhi on the 9th of February 2013 for his role in the December 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament.
  • Yakub Memon: Hanged at Nagpur Central Prison on the 30th of July 2015 for financing and facilitating the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai.
  • The 2012 Delhi Gang Rape (“Nirbhaya”) Executions: At 5:30 a.m. on Friday, the 20th of March 2020, four men—Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26), and Akshay Kumar Singh (31)—were hanged simultaneously in Tihar Jail’s Jail Number 3. They had been convicted of the aggravated gang rape and murder of 23-year-old physiotherapy intern Jyoti Singh aboard a private bus in South Delhi on the 16th of December 2012. (A fifth adult defendant, Ram Singh, died by suicide in prison in March 2013, and a juvenile co-defendant served three years in a reform facility).

Jamaica – Retentionist

The last execution in Jamaica took place on the 18th of February 1988, when Nathan Foster and Stanford Dinnal were hanged for murder at St Catherine District Prison in Spanish Town.

Kenya – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

The last executions under Kenyan domestic authority took place on the 9th of July 1985, when Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka and Pancras Oteyo Okumu were hanged at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison for their roles in the 1982 attempted coup d’état against President Daniel arap Moi.

During the colonial Mau Mau Uprising between 1952 and 1958, British colonial authorities hanged 1,090 Kenyans under emergency regulations.

Kiribati – Abolitionist

The initial criminal code of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1965 excluded capital punishment, and Kiribati has remained completely abolitionist since independence.

Lesotho – Retentionist

The last judicial execution in Lesotho was carried out in 1984.

Malawi – Retentionist

The last execution in Malawi took place on the 26th of September 1992.

Malaysia – Retentionist

In February 2005, the Malaysian government revealed that 358 people had been executed over the preceding 24 years, predominantly for drug trafficking and firearms offences.

Maldives – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

The last execution in the Maldives was carried out in 1952.

Malta – Abolitionist

Capital punishment was abolished for civilian murder in Malta in 1971, and completely eradicated from the military criminal code on the 21st of March 2000.

The last executions took place during the Second World War on the 5th of July 1943, when brothers Karmnu and Guzeppi Zammit were hanged for murder.

Mauritius – Abolitionist

Capital punishment was formally abolished by Parliament in 1995.

The last hanging occurred on the 10th of October 1987, when Eshan Nayeck was executed at Beau Bassin Prison.

Mozambique – Abolitionist

Mozambique joined the Commonwealth in 1995.

Capital punishment was constitutionally abolished for all crimes in 1990, with the final executions taking place in May 1986.

Namibia – Abolitionist

Namibia abolished capital punishment upon achieving independence in 1990.

The last execution under prior South African administration occurred in May 1988, when Sagarias Ariseb was hanged for murder.

Nauru – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

No executions have been carried out in Nauru since the country gained independence in 1968.

New Zealand – Abolitionist

A total of 84 men and one woman were hanged in New Zealand between 1842 and 1957.

On the 18th of February 1957, 68-year-old Walter James Bolton became the last person executed in New Zealand, hanged at Mount Eden Prison in Auckland for the arsenic poisoning of his wife.

The death penalty was formally abolished for murder in 1961, and abolished for all crimes, including treason, in 1989.

Nigeria – Retentionist

Nigeria continues to impose capital punishment for murder, armed robbery, and under regional Sharia penal codes in northern states.

Following a period without executions after 2006, four men—Chima Ejiofor, Daniel Nsofor, Osarenmwinda Aiguokhan, and Richard Igagu—were hanged on the 24th of June 2013 in Benin City Prison for murder and armed robbery.

Papua New Guinea – Abolitionist

Capital punishment was abolished for ordinary crimes in 1975, but was retained for treason and piracy.

It was reintroduced for wilful murder in 1991, though no executions were carried out.

The last execution in Papua New Guinea took place on the 14th of November 1957, when a man named Aro was hanged in Port Moresby for the murder of his two wives.

The death penalty was formally repealed by Parliament in January 2022.

Pakistan – Retentionist

In July 2008, the Pakistan People’s Party government proposed commuting all death row sentences, and subsequently established a federal moratorium on executions.

Between 2008 and 2014, only one execution occurred—that of soldier Muhammad Hussain, hanged on the 14th of November 2012 following a military court-martial conviction for murder.

However, following the horrific Tehrik-i-Taliban attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on the 16th of December 2014 that killed 149 people (including 132 schoolchildren), Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium.

Executions by hanging resumed across Pakistan for terrorism and were subsequently expanded to all capital murder offences, resulting in hundreds of hangings.

Rwanda – Abolitionist

Rwanda joined the Commonwealth in 2009.

Following the 1994 genocide, 22 individuals were publicly executed by firing squad in April 1998.

Rwanda completely abolished capital punishment in 2007 to facilitate the extradition of genocide suspects from international tribunals and foreign jurisdictions.

Saint Kitts and Nevis – Retentionist

The last execution in Saint Kitts and Nevis took place on the 19th of December 2008, when Charles Elroy Laplace was hanged for the murder of his wife.

Saint Lucia – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

The last execution in Saint Lucia was carried out on the 17th of October 1995, when Joseph Solomon was hanged for murder.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

The last execution occurred on the 13th of February 1995, when Douglas Hamlet, David Adams, and Livingstone Bradshaw were hanged for murder.

Samoa – Abolitionist

Capital punishment was abolished in Samoa in 2004, with no executions having taken place since the country gained independence in 1962.

Seychelles – Abolitionist

Capital punishment was abolished in Seychelles in 1993 under the new democratic constitution.

No judicial executions had been recorded since the mid-20th century prior to independence.

Sierra Leone – Abolitionist

The last executions in Sierra Leone were carried out by firing squad in October 1998, when 24 military officers were executed following a court-martial for their involvement in the 1997 coup.

Parliament voted unanimously to abolish capital punishment for all crimes in July 2021, and the abolition act was signed into law by President Julius Maada Bio in October 2021.

Singapore – Retentionist

Singapore retains the death penalty by hanging, which is mandatory for premeditated murder and certain threshold quantities of illicit drug trafficking (e.g., 15 grams of diamorphine/heroin).

Executions are carried out at dawn on Fridays inside Changi Prison.

Between 1991 and 2004, over 400 individuals were hanged in Singapore.

Following an unofficial legislative review between 2011 and mid-2013 that introduced limited judicial discretion for couriers with mental impairments, hangings resumed.

Solomon Islands – Abolitionist

Capital punishment was abolished upon the adoption of the post-independence penal code in 1978, with no executions having taken place since 1966.

South Africa – Abolitionist

South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth in 1961 and rejoined in 1994.

Under apartheid, South Africa had one of the highest execution rates in the world, with over 1,100 executions carried out at Pretoria Central Prison between 1980 and 1989 alone.

The last civilian execution took place on the 14th of November 1989, when Solomon Ngobeni was hanged for murder.

Following a moratorium declared by President F. W. de Klerk in February 1990, the newly established Constitutional Court of South Africa declared capital punishment unconstitutional in the landmark ruling S v Makwanyane on the 6th of June 1995.

Sri Lanka – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

Sri Lanka retains capital punishment on the statute book for murder and aggravated drug trafficking, but maintains a continuous de facto moratorium.

The last execution was carried out on the 23rd of June 1976, when J. M. Chandradasa was hanged at Welikada Prison in Colombo.

All subsequent death sentences have been commuted to terms of imprisonment.

Eswatini (Swaziland) – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

The last judicial execution in Eswatini occurred in 1983.

Tanzania – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

The last judicial execution in Tanzania took place in 1994, when several convicted murderers were hanged.

Tonga – Retentionist (Abolitionist in Practice)

The last execution in Tonga took place on the 4th of September 1982, when Halafihi Moala, John Finau, and Fau’ese Faletau were hanged for murder.

Trinidad and Tobago – Retentionist

Capital punishment by hanging remains mandatory for murder in Trinidad and Tobago.

The last executions took place between the 4th and 7th of June 1999, when drug kingpin Dole Chadee and eight members of his gang were hanged in three batches at the Port of Spain Royal Gaol for the murders of four members of the Baboolal family.

On the 28th of July 1999, Anthony Briggs was hanged for the murder of a taxi driver.

Tuvalu – Abolitionist

Capital punishment has never been implemented in Tuvalu since independence, and is abolished under the modern penal statutes.

Uganda – Retentionist

The last civilian execution in Uganda took place at Luzira Maximum Security Prison on the 28th of April 1999, when 28 men were hanged.

Occasional executions under military court-martial jurisdiction took place up to 2003.

United Kingdom – Abolitionist

The last executions in the United Kingdom took place simultaneously at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, the 13th of August 1964:

Capital punishment for murder was suspended in Great Britain under the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, made permanent in 1969, and abolished in Northern Ireland in 1973.

The death penalty was formally abolished for all remaining civilian crimes—treason and piracy with violence—under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, completing the abolition of capital punishment in Britain.

The UK ratified Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights in 2003, prohibiting the death penalty under all circumstances.

Vanuatu – Abolitionist

Vanuatu has had no capital punishment since its independence in 1980.

Zambia – Abolitionist

Zambia maintained a moratorium on executions after 1997, when eight prisoners were hanged under President Frederick Chiluba.

In December 2022, President Hakainde Hichilema signed the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill into law, officially abolishing the death penalty for all crimes.

Zimbabwe – Retentionist

Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth in December 2003.

The last judicial execution in Zimbabwe took place on the 22nd of July 2005, when armed robber and murderer Mandlenkosi “Muchape” Zhou was hanged at Harare Central Prison.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many British Commonwealth member states still retain the death penalty?

Out of the 54 member states of the Commonwealth, 28 retain capital punishment on statute (though more than a third maintain long-term de facto moratoria), while 16 have abolished it completely and 9 are abolitionist in practice.

Which Commonwealth country was the first to abolish the death penalty?

Queensland, Australia, became the first jurisdiction in the British Empire and Commonwealth to abolish the death penalty for all crimes in 1922.

Who was the last woman executed in a British colony?

Nora Parham, a 36-year-old domestic abuse victim, was hanged in Belize (then British Honduras) on June 5, 1963, for the murder of her husband, making her the last woman executed under British colonial rule.

When did the last judicial execution take place in Australia?

Ronald Ryan was the last person executed in Australia, hanged at Pentridge Prison in Melbourne, Victoria, on February 3, 1967, for shooting prison officer George Hodson during an escape attempt.

Who were the last people executed in Canada?

Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas were hanged simultaneously at Toronto’s Don Jail shortly after midnight on December 11, 1962, for the unrelated murders of law enforcement officers.

What is the method of execution used across the Commonwealth?

Hanging using the British long drop method remains the predominant legal method of capital punishment across Commonwealth nations (including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, and the English-speaking Caribbean), while a minority of African states (such as The Gambia in 2012) have utilized military firing squads.

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