INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ON THE DEATH PENALTY themselves to carry out the death penalty only for the most serious crimes and in a manner not contrary to their international commitments.11 COUNCIL OF EUROPE As seen above, the ECHR, which is of a legally binding nature, does not require the abolition of the death penalty. Article 2 of the ECHR, which enshrines the right to life, provides that: “No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.” The text of the ECHR itself places no explicit restrictions on the use of the death penalty, save that it can only be carried out following conviction by a court of a crime for which the death penalty is provided for by law. However, the European Court of Human Rights has interpreted both Article 2 and Article 3 of the ECHR as placing certain limitations on the use of the death penalty.12 UNITED NATIONS The ICCPR, which is of a legally binding nature, does not require the abolition of the death penalty. Article 6 of the ICCPR provides for the right to life but recognizes the death penalty as a permissible exception to the right to life. The text of the ICCPR provides that no one shall be deprived of the right to life arbitrarily and lists a number of specific restrictions and limitations on the use of the death penalty. Article 6(2) provides that: • • • • 11 12 The death sentence may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime; The death sentence may be imposed only in a manner not contrary to the provisions of the ICCPR, and the death penalty may be carried out only pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court; Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence; The death sentence shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age and shall not be carried out on pregnant women. Concluding Document of the 1989 Vienna Follow-up Meeting, “Questions relating to Security in Europe”, Paragraph 24. OSCE commitments also place a number of positive obligations on participating States that choose to retain the death penalty. A full-text reproduction of the OSCE commitments on the death penalty can be found in Annex 1. Article 3 of the ECHR prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 9