Taiwan
Foreign Nationals and the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Overview
According to Amnesty International, by the
end of 2021 there were 45 people on death
row in Taiwan. After a one-year hiatus from
executions, Taiwan executed one Taiwanese
national in 2020. Five death sentences were
handed down in 2020 and a further two in
2021, all to Taiwanese nationals.
Since Taiwan’s transition towards democracy
in the 1980s, Taiwan has made efforts to
reform their criminal justice system, including
capital punishment. Taiwan took a notable
step toward this end in 2009, when it rati ed
the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), a key international
instrument setting forth human rights
standards and restrictions on the use of the
death penalty. The ICCPR outlines
safeguards designed to protect the right to
life and states that members should work
towards the goal of eventually abolishing the
death penalty. Taiwan implemented the
ICCPR through domestic law in 2010,
rendering it binding on its government and
judiciary. However, despite a formal
commitment to the ICCPR and its principles,
in 2010 Taiwan lifted a moratorium on
executions and has since carried out at least
35 executions.
There are more than 50 crimes which attract
the death penalty in Taiwan. These are
outlined in the Criminal Code and other
statutes and can be generally categorised
into three groups. Firstly, aggravated crimes
resulting in death, such as murder, for which
the death penalty or life imprisonment is
mandatory.
Secondly, severe crimes, not including
intentional murder, for which the death
penalty is a discretionary. And thirdly, crimes
not resulting in death, such as robbery and
hijacking, where the death penalty is also
discretionary.
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All those executed in the last ten years were
convicted of murder with aggravating
elements or other crimes resulting in death.