Treason and Lords of Justiciary and counterfeiting the Great Seal of Scotland remain treason under sections 11 and 12 of the Treason Act 1708 respectively. Treason is a reserved matter about which the Scottish Parliament is prohibited from legislating. Two acts of the former Parliament of Ireland passed in 1537 and 1542 create further treasons which apply in Northern Ireland. The penalty for treason was changed from death to a maximum of imprisonment for life in 1998 under the Crime And Disorder Act. Before 1998, the death penalty was mandatory, subject to the royal prerogative of mercy. Since the abolition of
United Nations moratorium on the death penalty Human Rights, that there is no conclusive evidence that the death penalty's deterrent value and that any miscarriage or failure of justice in the death penalty's implementation is irreversible and irreparable, "Welcoming" the decisions taken by an increasing number of States to apply a moratorium on executions, followed in many cases by the abolition of the death penalty, 1. "Expresses its deep concern" about the continued application of the death penalty; 2. "Calls upon" all States that still maintain the death penalty to; (a) Respect international standards that provide safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the