It is a blocker similar to Assisted Suicide Act but I believe it to be somewhat more restrictive than Convention on Execution and Crime and Punishment, the two prior General Assembly resolutions on capital punishment.
Category: Civil Rights | Strength: Significant
Recognizing the controversy surrounding capital punishment and this Assembly's repeated attempts to legislate on this issue,
Seeking to enact a compromise whereby member states retain the freedom to use capital punishment subject to reasonable restrictions, or alternatively to prohibit the practice altogether,
The General Assembly,
- Permits member states to use capital punishment, subject to this resolution and prior World Assembly law;
- Restricts the use of capital punishment to grave crimes for which death is a proportionate punishment, including but not limited to aggravated murder, treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace;
- Recommends that, in the interests of mercy, member states refrain from the use of capital punishment except where necessary to defend society;
- Prohibits member states from executing a person for a crime if that person:
- is pregnant,
- was under the age of legal competence when the crime was committed, or
- cannot be held legally responsible for the crime for reasons such as mental illness;
- Requires member states to:
- provide, at a minimum, the same protections under criminal procedure to condemned persons and defendants potentially subject to capital punishment that are afforded to any other convict or defendant,
- refrain from performing summary or extrajudicial executions, and
- take all reasonable steps to ensure that no person is wrongfully executed, including but not limited to deferring an execution until all available appeals have been exhausted or waived;
- Directs member states to accede to the reasonable requests of a condemned person to permit:
- close friends and family of the condemned person to visit the condemned person prior to their execution and to be present during their execution, and
- a chaplain of a religious denomination specified by the condemned person to minister to the condemned person prior to and during their execution;
- Prohibits member states from employing any method of capital punishment that causes suffering unnecessary to facilitate the timely death of a conscious person, including but not limited to burning, dismemberment, or starvation;
- Requires member states to:
- treat the bodies of executed persons with dignity and respect, and to provide them to the executed person's family or other individual previously designated by the executed person if available, and
- make appropriate restitution in the event of a wrongful execution, in accordance with World Assembly law;
- Prohibits member states from:
- requiring any person to assist in an execution in cases where:
- the person would otherwise have a duty to assist in an execution to pursuant to government regulation, an employment agreement, or a contract, and
- the person sincerely objects to the practice of capital punishment,
- punishing or otherwise discriminating against such a person for refusing to assist in an execution in such circumstances;
- requiring any person to assist in an execution in cases where:
- Clarifies that the prior clause does not apply to persons who:
- fail to provide reasonable notice of their objections to appropriate parties, as required by law, in advance of refusing to carry out their duties, or
- object to performing the majority of the duties for which they are employed or contracted;
- Prohibits member states from extraditing a person to any jurisdiction that has not acceded to the requirements of this resolution, to the extent permitted by prior World Assembly law;
- Permits member states to refrain from extraditing a person to any jurisdiction where they would potentially be subject to capital punishment, to the extent permitted by prior World Assembly law;
- Prohibits World Assembly institutions from issuing or carrying out a sentence of capital punishment, or providing any funds to a member state for such purpose;
- Clarifies that nothing in this resolution prohibits the World Assembly from further legislating on criminal law, so long as such legislation is neutral with respect to the practice of capital punishment.