Capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

is no longer applied in

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

: the last execution was carried out in 1468 or in 1667, by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

. San Marino is one of only two countries in the world to have ceased carrying out executions prior to 1800 (the other is

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

, where the last execution took place in 1785). San Marino was the first country in the world to abolish the death penalty for ordinary crimes, in 1848. In 1865, it became the second country in the world (and the first in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

) to abolish the death penalty for all crimes, following

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

in 1863. It is one of only three countries to have abolished the death penalty for all crimes before 1900 (the third one being Costa Rica). In 1989, it formally ratified Protocol 6 to the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...

, which requires the complete abolition of the death penalty in peacetime. On 3 May 2002, it signed Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which requires the complete abolition of the death penalty, including in times of war or eminent threat of war. On 25 April 2003, it ratified Protocol 13. San Marino is also a state party to the

Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, is a subsidiary agreement to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was created on 15 D ...

, which it signed on 26 September 2003 and ratified on 17 August 2004. San Marino voted in favor of the

United Nations moratorium on the death penalty At Italy's instigation, the UN moratorium on the death penalty resolution was presented by the EU in partnership with eight co-author member States to the General Assembly of the United Nations, calling for general suspension (not abolition) ...

in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and most recently, in 2020.

References

Law of San Marino

Human rights abuses in San Marino {{Human-rights-stub, state=expanded