Commonwealth of Dominica (Dominica).

Latin America (Caribbean).

English.

72,412.

Abolitionist de facto.

1986.

Hanging.

Executions can be carried out by hanging.

0.

On December 7, 2009, Dominica’s delegation to the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of human rights in Dominica reported that all death sentences had been commuted in Dominica. As of June 2023, we have found no reports of death sentences since that date.
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We have found no reports of an official moratorium, although there is a de facto moratorium. While Dominica commuted all death sentences in 2010, which would seem to indicate a moratorium on executions, in 2009 the Prime Minister asserted that it must retain the death penalty and Dominica signed the 2009 Note Verbale of disassociation from the U.N. resolution on the moratorium on the death penalty. In 2019, the Dominican Government initiated a public discussion about the right to life in relation to the abolition of the death penalty.

Yes. The Constitution provides that no one shall “be deprived of life intentionally save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence under the law of Dominica of which he has been convicted,” meaning that capital punishment is constitutional. Articles 73-75 describe the clemency process for death-sentenced individuals. There are additional provisions addressing the political rights of death-sentenced individuals.

Aggravated Murder.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has held that the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s decision in Spence and Hughes v. Queen applies to Dominica; therefore, the death penalty is limited to exceptional cases for offenses against persons.

In 2005, the JCPC ruled in Balson v. The State that the mandatory death penalty amounts to inhuman treatment and is thus unconstitutional in Dominica, observing that any barrier to constitutional challenge was identical to those addressed in its decision in The Queen v. Hughes regarding the mandatory death penalty in Saint Lucia. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has consistently applied the JCPC’s decisions in Hughes to limit application of the death penalty to “exceptional cases where there is no reasonable prospect of reform and the object of punishment would not be achieved by any other means,” meaning  where a murder is the “worst of the worst.”

Treason.

Treason is punishable by death.

While Dominica has not amended its laws to remove language mandating the death penalty for murder and treason, caselaw indicates that the mandatory death penalty is unconstitutional in Dominica. Challenges based on the Dominican Constitution's Article 2 right to life and Article 5 prohibition against inhuman treatment cannot be the subject of derogation or savings, and the High Court division of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over such issues, with appeal to the Court of Appeal division and ultimately to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ("JCPC").

In 2005, the JCPC ruled in Balson v. The State that the mandatory death penalty amounts to inhuman treatment and is thus unconstitutional in Dominica, observing that any barrier to constitutional challenge was identical to those addressed in its decision in The Queen v. Hughes regarding the mandatory death penalty in Saint Lucia. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has consistently applied the JCPC’s decisions in Hughes to limit application of the death penalty to “exceptional cases where there is no reasonable prospect of reform and the object of punishment would not be achieved by any other means,” meaning where a murder is the “worst of the worst.”
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Comments.

The mandatory death penalty has been found unconstitutional in Dominica.

Individuals Below Age 18 at Time of Crime.

Individuals below the age of 18 at the time of committing a capital offense are held indefinitely by the State, but cannot be executed. Dominica has ratified the American Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits the execution of individuals for crimes committed while under the age of 18.

Pregnant Women.

Pregnant women face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Dominica has ratified the American Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits the execution of pregnant women.

Mentally Ill.

While we did not find a statutory exception, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s jurisprudence requires a consideration of mental state or defect for determining guilt and for determining the appropriate sentence.

Elderly.

Dominica has ratified the American Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits execution of the elderly.

Comments.

None.

In 2005, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Balson v. The State struck down the mandatory death penalty as inhuman treatment and thus invalid under Dominica’s Constitution. This upheld and extended the jurisprudence of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Jurisprudence of the Eastern Caribbean Courts, which serve as Dominica’s domestic High Court and Court of Appeal, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, has consistently restricted the scope of the death penalty over the past decade. Jurisprudence of the Eastern Caribbean Courts, which serve as Dominica’s domestic High Court and Court of Appeal, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, have consistently restricted the scope of the death penalty over the past decade.

The Constitution does not reference international human rights protections or the influence of international law or treaties upon adjudication. Additionally, it lacks provisions establishing a judiciary, instead referencing the Supreme Court Order (now the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Order), a treaty-based organic statute establishing a regional Caribbean court that must be amended in the same manner as the Constitution (except regarding giving effect to other international agreements regarding courts). The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Order establishes a regional judiciary, and according to the Constitution, this regional judiciary’s High Court has original and appellate jurisdiction over all criminal cases in Dominica. Final appeal lies to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, an international Commonwealth court. There are no other provisions directly concerning the impact of international or regional human rights law on domestic law.

In 2020, the U.N. Human Rights Committee welcomed Dominica’s de facto moratorium and ratification the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1993. The Committee notes that the State has not ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant seeking to eliminate the death penalty. The Dominican diplomatic delegation affirmed that the Prime Minister initiated a public conversation on the right to life regarding abolition of the death penalty.

Previously, in the Concluding Observations in its 2009 Universal Periodic Review of human rights in Dominica, the Human Rights Council recommended that Dominica abolish the death penalty. In 2014, at the Universal Periodic Review of Dominica, Dominica acknowledged the recommendation of Australia, Mexico, Togo, Ukraine, and Uruguay to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty to formalize its de facto moratorium on the death penalty. The same happened in 2019, when Uruguay, Australia, Mexico, Togo, Ukraine, Canada, France, Iceland, Italy, Portugal, Spain made several recommendations for abolishing the death penalty, including ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR or adopting any type of legislation.


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In its Concluding Observations on its 2009 Universal Periodic Review of human rights in Dominica, the Human Rights Council recommended that Dominica abolish the death penalty.

Yes, there are government-provided lawyers available for indigent defendants in murder cases.

The organic statute establishing Dominica’s courts, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Order, describes costs allowable to individuals to whom counsel for appeal has been assigned; presumably, counsel for appeals is limited to appellants facing serious penalties.

None.

According to the Constitution and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Order, the High Court division of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over all cases. Appeal lies to the Court of Appeals division of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; appeals beyond these domestic regional courts lie to the Commonwealth court of appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ("JCPC"). These appeals may be as of right or by leave of the higher court as defined by the Constitution and law. Currently, Dominica does not recognize the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

While Dominica helped form the Caribbean Court of Justice, and at some time in the future could substitute that court for the JCPC, it has not yet done so.

A President-appointed (and Prime-minister approved) Minister, prior to the execution of any sentence of death, must obtain a written report from the trial judge and other useful information and submit it to the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy. The Advisory Committee makes recommendations, and the Minister decides “in his own deliberate judgment” whether to advise the President to exercise the prerogative of mercy. The President must act “in accordance with the advice of [the] Minister” in granting a pardon, partial respite or commutation not reducing the sentence below two years imprisonment.

Yes, jury trials are provided for criminal defendants.

On December 7, 2009, Dominica’s delegation to the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of human rights in Dominica reported that all death sentences had been commuted in Dominica. We have found no reports of death sentences since that date. Stockfarm Prison is the only prison on Dominica.

Prisons are under capacity but are generally unsanitary, with poor building conditions. Juveniles are held with adults, and remand prisoners are held with convicts. According to the Criminal Code, death row prisoners are supposed to be kept in a separate part of the prison, with no access from the outside.

No. On December 7, 2009, Dominica’s delegation to the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of human rights in Dominica reported that all death sentences had been commuted in Dominica. We have found no reports of death sentences since that date.

N/A.

No. On December 7, 2009, Dominica’s delegation to the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of human rights in Dominica reported that all death sentences had been commuted in Dominica. We have found no reports of death sentences since that date.

No. On December 7, 2009, Dominica’s delegation to the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of human rights in Dominica reported that all death sentences had been commuted in Dominica. We have found no reports of death sentences since that date.

N/A.

No recent changes have taken place in the execution of death sentences; there have been no executions since 1986. Because the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council’s decision in Pratt and Morgan v. Jamaica is likely applicable in Dominica, a duration of 5 or more years on death row presumptively constitutes inhuman treatment and forms the basis of an appeal against a sentence of death; courts have observed that the effect of Pratt has been to limit executions in the Caribbean commonwealth. Dominica helped form the Caribbean Court of Justice ("CCJ"), but changing to that court’s jurisdiction would not, as some anticipate, mark the end of Pratt—a decision that the CCJ has explicitly stated is legitimate if in need of modification. Despite rumors that the CCJ was formed to undermine Pratt, the court was actually proposed prior to Pratt and to address other pressing issues.

In 2005, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Balson v. The State struck down the mandatory death penalty as inhuman treatment and thus invalid under Dominica’s Constitution. This upheld and extended the jurisprudence of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Jurisprudence of the Eastern Caribbean Courts, which serve as Dominica’s domestic High Court and Court of Appeal, has consistently restricted the scope of the death penalty over the past decade. Jurisprudence of the Eastern Caribbean Courts, which serve as Dominica’s domestic High Court and Court of Appeal, have consistently restricted the scope of the death penalty over the past decade.

No.

The Catholic Church is outspoken about opposing the death penalty in Dominica. Thomson Fontaine has blogged and written regularly in support of the abolition of the death penalty in Dominica.

Decisions of the Eastern Caribbean High Court and Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeals are available at http://www.eccourts.org/.

Decisions of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are available at http://www.privy-council.org.uk/output/Page31.asp. Decisions of the Caribbean Court of Justice at https://ccj.org/judgments-proceedings/.

Roger Hood and Florence Seemungal, Sentenced to Death Without Execution,: Why capital punishment has not yet been abolished, in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados, The Death Penalty Project, London, 2020.

In 2009, the Prime Minister expressed his unwavering support for the death penalty, but a 2020 UN report suggested that he may now support working toward abolition of the death penalty. In 2017, Dominica’s Minister for Justice Immigration and National Security affirmed his support for the death penalty in Dominica. .Additionally, in 2019 the office of the UN high commissioner acknowledged that the death penalty had public support with many Dominicans calling for its reinstatement for murder.