Capital punishment in the United Kingdom espionage from "all spies for the enemy" to spies on naval ships or bases. Later, the Armed Forces Act 1981 abolished the death penalty for espionage. (The Official Secrets Act 1911 had created another offence of espionage which carried a maximum sentence of fourteen years.) Beheading was abolished as a method of execution for treason in 1973. Hanging, however, remained available until 1998 when, under a House of Lords amendment to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, proposed by Lord Archer of Sandwell, the death penalty was abolished for treason and piracy with violence, replacing it with a discretionary maximum
United Nations moratorium on the death penalty for human dignity and to the enhancement and progressive development of human rights, and considering that there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty, "Noting" ongoing national debates and regional initiatives on the death penalty, as well as the readiness of an increasing number of Member States to make available information on the use of the death penalty, "Noting also" the technical cooperation among Member States in relation to moratoriums on the death penalty, 1. "Welcomes" the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution 63/168 and the recommendations contained therein; 2. "Also welcomes"