Capital punishment in Europe rights became a particular priority. The Kingdom of Italy had abolished the death penalty for civilians with the adoption of the Zanardelli Penal Code of 1889, but the Fascists had reintroduced it with the 1930 Penal Code. The European Convention on Human Rights was adopted in 1950, but some countries took many years to ratify it. The United Kingdom retained the death penalty for high treason until 1998; however, this technicality was superseded by the absolute ban on the death penalty in 1976. William Joyce was the last person to be put to death for high treason in the UK,
Treason Act 1939 Treason Act 1939 The Treason Act 1939 is an Act of the Oireachtas (Parliament) of the Republic of Ireland. It provides for the punishment of treason and related offences. Article 39 of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland defines treason as follows: Section 1 of the Treason Act provides that treason can be committed by anyone in Ireland, or outside Ireland by any citizen or resident of Ireland. It was a capital offence, until the death penalty was abolished in 1990. The sentence now is life imprisonment, with parole in not less than 40 years. Section 2 states that anyone who