Which of the following was the first country to abolish capital punishment for all crimes?
Venezuela was the first of these countries to abolish capital punishment for all crimes. President Juan Crisóstomo Falcón’s 1863 Decree of Guarantees abolished the penalty,…
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Which of the following was the first country to abolish capital punishment for all crimes?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer D
Venezuela was the first of these countries to abolish capital punishment for all crimes. President Juan Crisóstomo Falcón’s 1863 Decree of Guarantees abolished the penalty, and the 1864 Constitution confirmed abolition. The Netherlands abolished it for ordinary crimes in 1870 and for all crimes in the early 1980s. Australia completed nationwide abolition in 1985. United States federal law still provides for the death penalty.
Option feedback
Option A
United States federal law still provides for the death penalty for certain crimes, so the country has not abolished it nationwide.
Option B
Incorrect. Australia abolished capital punishment much later (Queensland was the first Australian state to abolish it in 1922, federal crimes in 1973, and the last state, New South Wales, in 1985).
Option C
The Netherlands abolished capital punishment for ordinary crimes in 1870 and for all crimes in the early 1980s.
Option D
Correct. Venezuela became the first modern sovereign state to abolish capital punishment for all crimes permanently by President Juan Crisóstomo Falcón's Decree of Guarantees (1863), enshrined in the Constitution of Venezuela, 1864.
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