Taiwan upholds legality of death sentences but severely restricts its use

A Taiwan court on Friday upheld the legality of death penalties but restricted its use to “special and exceptional circumstances.”

While the court said that there is nothing unconstitutional about death penalty, it said that it should be employed in extremely serious crimes like murders.

Taiwan’s Constitutional Court was hearing petitions filed by roughly three dozen prisoners on death row who argued that the punishment violates the country’s constitution.

“However, the death penalty is a capital punishment after all, and its scope of application should still be limited to special and exceptional circumstances,” said Chief Justice Hsu Tzong-li during a lengthy readout of the court’s decision.

“The TCC emphasized that because death penalty was the most severe punishment and irreversible in nature, its application and procedural safeguard (from investigation to execution) should be reviewed under strict scrutiny,” the court said in a statement about the crime of murder.

How does Taiwan execute people?

Taiwan carries out the death penalty by shooting an inmate in the heart from behind as they lie face-down on the ground, which is an inhumane method of punishment.

Democratic Taiwan has carried out 35 executions since a moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in 2010, with the latest – that of a 53-year-old man convicted for setting a fire that killed his family – occurring in April 2020.

Who should be exempted from death penalty?

The court said that defendants with mental conditions “even if they do not influence their offense in the cases in question” should not be subjected to the death penalty.

Additionally, death row inmates “should not be executed if they had mental conditions to the extent that have impeded their competency for execution”, it said.

With inputs from AFP