Death_Penalty_2005_nowy.qxd 2005-09-08 17:00 Page 8 THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA 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.4 UNITED NATIONS (UN) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is of a legally binding nature, does not require the abolition of the death penalty.5 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: • • • • A 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; A 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 penalty shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age and shall not be carried out on pregnant women. The limitations set out in Article 6(2) have been interpreted by the Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations on state party reports, in its General Comment No. 6, and in its jurisprudence on individual complaints.6 In addition, the limitations set out in Article 6(2) have also been interpreted and expanded upon in documents produced by other UN bodies, in particular, in the ECOSOC Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty7 and in the annual resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of the death penalty.8 The following is a brief overview of the nature of the restrictions set out in Article 6(2) on the basis of the documentation produced by the above-mentioned bodies.9 4 5 6 7 8 9 Article 3 of the ECHR prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. UN General Assembly Resolution 2200 A (XXI) of 16 December 1966. Entered into force on 23 March 1976. General Comment No. 6, adopted at the 16th session of the Human Rights Committee, 1982. Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty, UN Economic and Social Council Resolution 1984/50, adopted on 25 May 1984. The most recent resolution of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of the death penalty is Resolution 2005/59, 20 April 2005. Unless otherwise indicated, the documents referred to in the following overview are not of a legally binding nature. 8