ABSTRACT
In August 1996 the Council o f Europe adopted Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection o f Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Protocol made a moratorium on executions an ‘essential precondition for accession’ for countries seeking membership o f the Council, and complete repeal o f the death sentence was required to follow within three years. The Council o f Europe stated clearly at the time, and its resolutions and officials have since reiterated, that applicant countries cannot be deemed ‘democratic’ if they retain the death penalty. Council o f Europe President Daniel Tarschys said on 20 January 1990 that abolition o f the death penalty is ‘indeed the litmus test for belonging to a civilized European family o f states’ and called it one o f the ‘top priorities’ o f the organization. Indeed, the Council o f Europe ties a state’s abolition o f the death penalty to its democratic credentials and its officials have commented that it has no place in democratic society.1 In Resolution 1187 (1999) o f 26
May 1999 the Parliamentary Assembly o f the Council o f Europe (PACE) reaffirmed earlier resolutions that capital punishment ‘has no place in civilised, democratic societies governed by the rule o f law’.2
