The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area 63
4.5
LATVIA
Relevant International Instruments
134
Ratification Status134
International Instruments
ICCPR
R
Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR
-
CRC
R
ECHR
R
Protocol No. 6 to the ECHR
R
Protocol No. 13 to the ECHR
S
Status: partly abolitionist
Legal Framework
The death penalty has been abolished for crimes committed in peacetime. However,
the Criminal Code envisages the death penalty for murder with aggravating circumstances if committed during wartime.135 Draft laws on ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR and Protocol No. 13 to the ECHR were submitted to
parliament on 21 February 2002 and 17 October 2002, respectively.
134
R = ratified, S = signed, a dash (-) indicates that the participating State has neither signed nor ratified the relevant
instrument.
135
Article 37 of the Criminal Code, 15 October 1998, with amendments of 18 May 2000. This article also provides that
the death penalty may not be applied to individuals below the age of 18 at the time of crime, or to women.
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