The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area The Council of Europe11 has been a pioneer in the abolition process. There are two Council of Europe legal instruments outlawing the death penalty: - Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR),12 the first legally binding instrument providing for the unconditional abolition of the death penalty in peacetime, has been ratified by 46 of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe; and - Protocol No. 13 to the ECHR,13 concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, including in times of war, has been ratified by 40 member states, with the latest ratification by France on 10 October 2007. I hope the time will soon come when ODIHR will no longer have to monitor the status of the death penalty in the OSCE area because it will have been abolished everywhere. Until then, I hope that this paper will be a useful resource for governments and civil society alike in the further debate on issues related to capital punishment and its abolition. Ambassador Janez Lenarčič ODIHR Director 11  Of the 56 OSCE participating States, 47 are member states of the Council of Europe. 12  ETS No. 114, entered into force on 1 March 1985. Article 2 provides that a state may make provision in its law for the death penalty in respect of acts committed in times of war or of imminent threat of war. 13  ETS No. 187, entered into force on 1 July 2003. vii