NCJ Number
204338
Date Published
July 2003
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This document presents evidence supporting the conclusion that the use of the death penalty against child offenders is prohibited under customary international law.
Abstract
In October 2002, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held that “a norm of international customary law has emerged prohibiting the execution of offenders under the age of 18 years at the time of their crime.” This rule has been recognized as being of sufficient nature to constitute a norm of "jus cogens." The international community of states has adopted four human rights treaties of worldwide or regional scope that explicitly exclude child offenders from the death penalty. Several international humanitarian law treaties also prohibit the use of the death penalty against child offenders. Nearly all states are parties to one or more of these four human rights treaties. Only one state whose laws currently provide for the death penalty against child offenders -- the United States -- has made a specific reservation to the provisions of such treaties relating to the exclusion of child offenders from the death penalty. Eleven states parties, such as Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain, objected to the United States reservation, stating that the right to life is one of the most fundamental human rights. Intergovernmental bodies have repeatedly called for the exclusion of child offenders from the death penalty. They have also stated that the use of the death penalty against child offenders is contrary to customary international law. Many countries that retain the death penalty in law have provisions in their laws that exclude child offenders from the death penalty. Amnesty International monitors executions worldwide and publishes annual figures. Because many executions are still carried out in secret, these figures are not complete but are the most comprehensive publicly available. Taken together, the State practice and other information presented confirms that the use of the death penalty against child offenders is prohibited under customary international law. It also constitutes strong evidence that the prohibition should be recognized as a peremptory norm of general international law. 36 endnotes, 3 appendices