Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Ghana only for high treason. Ghana last executed a criminal in 1993. The method of execution is by firing squad. It is considered "abolitionist in practice." Capital punishment was a mandatory sentence for certain ordinary criminal offenses until 2023.
Seven new death sentences were handed down in 2021, while 165 people were on death row in Ghana at the end of 2021.
On 25 July 2023, the Parliament of Ghana voted to legally abolish capital punishment for ordinary offences. Capital punishment remains a prescribed penalty under the constitution for high treason. The country's legal code was amended to replace capital punishment with life imprisonment. The legislation was tabled by Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, who described it as a "great advancement of the human rights record of Ghana."
The abolition of the death penalty in Ghana is not retroactive; as of August 2023 death sentences continued to be handed down for crimes committed before the abolition went into effect.
References
- "Abolitionist and retentionist countries (as of July 2018)". Amnesty International. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- "Abolitionist and retentionist countries (as of July 2018)". Amnesty International. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- "Ghana and the Death Penalty". Parliamentarians for Global Action. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- "Death sentences and executions 2021". Amnesty International. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- Adombila, Maxwell Akalaare; Akorlie, Christian (2023-07-25). "Ghana parliament votes to abolish the death penalty". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- "Father sentenced to death for offering son as sacrifice". Ghana Business News. 2023-08-11. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
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