Capital punishment in the United Kingdom Capital punishment in the United Kingdom Capital punishment in the United Kingdom was used from ancient times until the second half of the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom were by hanging, and took place in 1964, prior to :capital punishment being abolished for murder (in 1965 in Great Britain and in 1973 in Northern Ireland). Although unused, the death penalty remained a legally defined punishment for certain offences such as treason until it was completely abolished in 1998. In 2004 the 13th Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights became binding on the United Kingdom,
Capital punishment in New Zealand Labour cabinet in November 1989 with the passage of the "Abolition of the Death Penalty Act 1989", and there were no further executions during the interim period. Passage of the "Abolition of the Death Penalty Act" ended all capital punishment in New Zealand. The Cook Islands, which based its statutes on New Zealand law, formally retained the death penalty for treason until it was abolished in 2007. The death penalty was never used in the Cook Islands. Occasional calls to reinstate capital punishment still occur, but no major political party has made capital punishment an element of any of their