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 The United Kingdom retained the death penalty for high treason until 1998; however, this technicality was superseded by the absolute ban on the death penalty in 1976.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,
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