Human Rights Act 1998 UK judges can grant any remedy that is considered just and appropriate. Many rights established under the Human Rights Act 1998 were already protected under UK law (such as freedom), but the purpose of the Act was largely to establish the European Convention on Human Rights in British law. Section 21(5) of the Act completely abolished the death penalty in the United Kingdom, effective on royal assent. The death penalty had already been abolished for all civilian offences, including murder (Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965) and treason (Crime and Disorder Act 1998), but remained in force for certain
High treason in the United Kingdom with a strict requirement for a minimum of two witnesses to the crime. In 1832 the death penalty was abolished for treason by forging seals and the Royal sign manual. In 1870, attainder was abolished. In the same year in England, and in 1949 in Scotland, posthumous drawing and quartering was abolished, and so the sole punishment was hanging. Beheading was abolished in 1973, by which time it had long been obsolete. By 1965, capital punishment had been abolished for almost all crimes, but was still mandatory (unless the offender was pardoned or the sentence commuted) for high treason until