Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback National Human Rights Commission of Korea - Complaint Summaries

Opinions on the Death Penalty [2005] KRNHRC 19 (6 May 2005)

The Commission decided to make a recommendation to abolish the death penalty at the
eighth plenary committee meeting held on April 6th, 2005. The decision was based on
the Article 10 of the Constitution, which states that "all citizens shall be assured of
human dignity and worth and have the right to pursue happiness," and Paragraph 2,
Article 37 of the Constitution, which provides Anti-over restriction principle, of the
Constitution. The death penalty also violates the provisions of the "Second Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at the
abolition of the death penalty," which explicitly urges its abolition.

The Commission conducted a nationwide survey on how the public think of the death
penalty and analyzed domestic and international trends, legal provisions related to the
death penalty, crimes, and precedent cases related to the death penalty. It subsequently
reviewed the points raised from the research.

The Commission discussed various ways to abolish the death penalty in three plenary
committee meetings in March and April of 2005. At the eighth plenary committee
meeting held on April 6, 2005, with nine out of the total eleven commissioners in
attendance to discuss ways to change the death penalty system, the Commission
decided to propose the abolition of the death penalty by its decision. Eight of the nine
commissioners voted in favor of abolishing the death penalty system, while one voted
in favor of retaining it.