Between Retention and Abolition: Making Sense of a Death Penalty Without Executions

This report marks the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the ‘abolitionist de facto’ (ADF) category in the UN’s quinquennial reports on the death penalty. Today, 42 states fall under the category of ADF – countries where no executions have taken place for at least a decade, but where the death penalty remains in law. Though an absence of executions must be commended, many ADF states still impose death sentences and, ultimately, sustain the legal infrastructure of capital punishment, with all the risks and harms this entails.

Until now, there has been limited research into the practices and rationales underpinning the ADF concept or on its effects. The study draws attention to the potential for de facto abolition to become a destination point, rather than a step on the path towards permanent legal abolition. It acts as a reminder that the absence of executions must not be mistaken for true abolition, and that the ultimate goal remains the complete eradication of the death penalty in law as well as in practice.

Read the Executive Summary in French.