Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 all sentences of death were to be commuted to sentences of life imprisonment. The legislation contained a sunset clause, which stated that the Act would expire on 31 July 1970 "unless Parliament by affirmative resolutions of both Houses otherwise determines". This was done in 1969 and the Act was made permanent. The Act left four capital offences: high treason, "piracy with violence" (piracy with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm), arson in royal dockyards and espionage, as well as other capital offences under military law. The death penalty was not finally abolished in the United Kingdom until 1998
Death penalty for homosexuality took many of those laws as the basis of their own, in some cases verbatim. The last law where the death penalty was on the statute books was South Carolina, the old British law wasn't repealed until 1873, twelve years after the mother country. The number of times the penalty was carried out is unknown. Records support two executions, and a number of more uncertain convictions, such as "crimes against nature". Death penalty for homosexuality The death penalty for homosexuality has historically been implemented by a number of countries worldwide. It currently still exists in a fairly small number of