Question of the Death Penalty

A/HRC/RES/48/9View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2021.

What other versions does this mandate have?

3 versions · 2021–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/60/17

2025A/HRC/RES/60/17Question of the death penaltyLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/HRC/RES/54/35Question of the death penaltyCompare with previous version
2021A/HRC/RES/48/9Question of the death penalty

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What subjects does this mandate have?

6 topics

Appellate Procedure Capital Punishment Criminal Justice Human Rights International Obligations Pardon

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2023.

2023A/HRC/54/33Question of the death penalty report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

15 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;

Urges States that have not yet abolished the death penalty to ensure transparency in the imposition and application of this punishment, and to respect all other international minimum safeguards for the protection of the human rights of individuals who are facing the death penalty, as set out in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50;

Calls upon States that have not yet abolished the death penalty to ensure that any trial leading to the imposition of the death penalty complies with international fair trial guarantees, including during a state of emergency, bearing in mind that failure to be transparent in proceedings resulting in the imposition of the death penalty could constitute a violation of the right to life;

Calls upon States to ensure that all accused persons, in particular poor and economically vulnerable persons, can exercise their rights relating to equal access to justice, to ensure adequate, qualified and effective legal representation at every stage of civil and criminal proceedings in cases of capital punishment through effective legal aid, and to ensure that those facing the death penalty can exercise their right to seek pardon or commutation of their death sentence;

Also calls upon States to ensure that children whose parents or parental caregivers are on death row, the inmates themselves, their families and their legal representatives are provided, in advance, with adequate information about a pending execution, including its date, time and location, and to allow a last visit or communication with the convicted individual and the return of the body to the family for burial, or to provide information about where the body is located, unless this is not in the best interests of the child;

Further calls upon States to comply with their obligations under article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and to inform without delay foreign nationals who have been arrested or detained of their right to contact the relevant consular post and to communicate with their consular representatives, bearing in mind that failure to promptly inform detained foreign nationals of their right to consular notification pursuant to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, resulting in the imposition of the death penalty, would likely violate the right to life;

Calls upon States that have not yet abolished the death penalty and that carry out executions either in secret or with little or no prior warning to end these practices, which impair the ability of the convicted individual and family members to prepare for death and can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;

Calls upon States that have not yet abolished the death penalty to be transparent with respect to their execution methods, including through legislation, protocols or practices, bearing in mind that the judiciary has a key role to play in ensuring transparency in methods of execution;

Also calls upon States that have not yet abolished the death penalty to make available systematically and publicly full, accurate and relevant information, disaggregated by gender, age, nationality, race 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, bearing in mind that access to reliable information on the imposition and application of the death penalty enables national and international stakeholders to understand and assess the scope of these practices, including about compliance with the obligations of States with regard to the use of the death penalty;

Requests the Secretary-General to dedicate the 2023 supplement to his quinquennial report on capital punishment to the relationship between articles 6 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights focusing on the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence and the right to have to one’s conviction and sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law, in accordance with the safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty as set out in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-fourth session;

Decides that the upcoming biennial high-level panel discussion to be held during the fifty-second session of the Human Rights Council will address human rights violations relating to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to limiting the death penalty to the most serious crimes;

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, and to make the biennial panel discussion fully accessible;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a summary report on the panel discussion, also in an accessible format, and to submit it to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-fourth session;

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

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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