Grenada.

Latin America (Caribbean).

English.

103,930.

Abolitionist de facto.

Grenada’s last execution was in 1978.

1978.

Hanging.

Executions can be carried out by hanging.

One.

One person was known to be on death row at the end of 2020.

(This question was last updated on November 30, 2021.).

No. Although there is a de facto moratorium on executions, Grenada has rejected recommendations that it institute a de jure moratorium.

The Constitution provides: “No person shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a Criminal offence under the law of Grenada of which he has been convicted.”

Aggravated Murder.

The 1987 Criminal Code as written mandates the death penalty for murder and does not recognize aggravated murder as a separate offense. Case law restricts the death penalty to aggravated murder.

Treason.

Treason is punishable by death.

Comments.

We did not find the laws or regulations of the armed forces. There are some references to the law of England in force “for the time being” that could affect interpretation of the law, but we do not know how the phrase would be applied.

Despite the Criminal Code’s mandatory death penalty for all murder, Grenada’s courts have applied a discretionary sentencing standard for aggravated murder. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (Grenada’s highest constitutional court) recently confirmed that Article 230 of the Criminal Code must be interpreted as a discretionary standard and that individuals who did not have the opportunity to fully contest the constitutionality of a mandatory sentence of death must be resentenced.

Comments.

Although the Criminal Code states that the death penalty is mandatory for murder, Grenada’s courts have applied a discretionary sentencing standard for aggravated murder, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (Grenada’s highest constitutional court) recently confirmed a discretionary standard.

Individuals Below Age 18 at Time of Crime.

Grenada’s national law forbids the execution of individuals for crimes committed while under the age of 18, and Grenada has ratified the ICCPR, CRC and ACHR, which prohibit that practice."

Pregnant Women.

Grenada has ratified the ICCPR and the ACHR, which prohibit the execution of pregnant women. We did not find the Code of Criminal Procedure, which would typically set forth exclusions for pregnant or nursing women."

Intellectually Disabled.

We did not find Grenada’s law on this subject, but on at least one occasion, Grenada’s courts have considered whether an individual’s intellectual disability prevented him from fully understanding the nature and consequences of his actions such that he could not be found criminally responsible or could not be liable for the same punishment as an ordinary individual.

Mentally Ill.

We did not find Grenada’s law on this subject, but Grenada is a common law jurisdiction and common law recognizes that where an individual’s mental illness prevents him from understanding the nature and consequences of his acts, he may not be held criminally responsible. One case suggests a partially responsible individual might still face lesser penalties.

Elderly.

Grenada has ratified the ACHR, which prohibits the execution of individuals over the age of 70 years.

Comments.

Grenada’s Constitution does not provide that treaties have the force of national law, and we do not know whether Grenada has fully enacted the rights implied by its international and regional treaty obligations. We did not locate Grenada’s Code of Criminal Procedure—we believe that fuller access to the law would clarify the exclusions Grenada applies."

Comments.

Grenada’s last execution was in 1978.

In 1993, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled that any prisoner under sentence of death for longer than 5 years had presumptively been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment necessitating commutation of his death sentence. Grenada courts (and other officials in the criminal justice system) apply this principle.

In 2001, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Court of Appeals division) determined that the mandatory death penalty contravened protections against arbitrariness and cruel and unusual treatment or punishment, protections assured by Grenada’s Constitution. The JCPC upheld the ECSC’s decision in 2002. The ECSC’s 2001 decision also stated that the death penalty may be “imposed in only the most exceptional and appropriate circumstances,” and subsequent sentencing by Grenada courts shows that they apply that standard.

In 2007, the JCPC accepted an appeal against the mandatory death penalty of some individuals who had, during a brief period in which the JCPC lacked appellate jurisdiction over cases from Grenada, exhausted appellate process on separate issues. The Governor had commuted the sentences of these prisoners (convicted of the murder of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop during the 1983 revolution) to life imprisonment, but the JCPC ruled that such a reduction was insufficient because it did not account for the possibility that the death sentences were inappropriate in the first place. The Court ordered that these individuals be resentenced. All of these individuals have now been released.

No.

We did not find any recent observations by the Human Rights Committee.

Members of the Human Rights Council recommended in the 2010 Universal Periodic Review that Grenada ratify the Protocols to the ICCPR, institute a de jure moratorium on executions, commute all death sentences, consider abolition, remove the death penalty from its national legislation, and abolish the death penalty. Grenada largely rejected these recommendations, supporting only the recommendation that it ratify the first Optional Protocol to the ICCPR (which would recognize the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Committee to receive communications and consider petitions from individuals alleging violations of Grenada’s obligations under the ICCPR).

Yes.

Yes.

We did not find any comments on the quality of legal representation.

Capital trials and sentencing are in the High Court of Justice and are appealed to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court sitting as a Court of Appeal, and then to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. It is unclear from those cases when appeal is as of right and, if so, whether that right is generally respected. The Constitution grants a right of appeal in some cases.

Any capital sentence not issued by court martial is reviewed by the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy. A special Minister appointed by the Governor General in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister causes a report of the case and other useful information to be submitted to the Committee, which makes recommendations to the special Minister. That Minister determines “in his own deliberate judgment” whether to advise the Governor General, who must act in accordance with that advice, to exercise the prerogative of mercy.

Yes.

Grenada’s criminal justice system is reported as independent and fair; while administrative measures somewhat protect the rights of capital convicts, there are serious delays in judicial consideration of convicts’ constitutional rights.

Death row is at Her Majesty''s Prison in Richmond Hill, St. George''s.

We cannot confirm that any prisoners are held under sentence of death. Overcrowding at Her Majesty’s Prison is severe (as of September 2009, 372 prisoners were held although the capacity of Grenada’s prisons allows for only 200 persons), although reportedly conditions are otherwise up to international standards. Women and men are held in different sections of the same facility. Death row is a separate section, and while on death row prisoners are permitted to leave the cell daily only for exercise and sanitary purposes. After 5 years, a death-sentenced prisoner “enjoys privileges and living conditions similar to other inmates of Her Majesty’s Prison.” While this might increase the overcrowding faced by a death-sentenced prisoner, it also means that the prisoner is permitted to be out of his cell for 11.5 hours each day, may participate in sporting, vocational and other activities, and may have a radio and television in his cell. Debatably, the prisoner should be considered no longer on death row (sometimes pending resentencing) after 5 years, although courts may still enumerate any time spent prior to commutation as time under sentence of death.

We did not determine whether any foreign nationals are currently under sentence of death.

We did not determine whether any foreign nationals are currently under sentence of death.

We did not determine whether any women are currently under sentence of death.

No.

We did not find any reports regarding the racial or ethnic composition of death row.

There have been no executions since 1978. After 2001, when the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (sitting as a Court of Appeal) established an “exceptional and appropriate circumstances” standard for application of the death penalty, Grenada has restricted the death penalty to aggravated murder in the absence of circumstances that call for leniency.

In recent years there have been some cases that may lead to improvements in the right to appeal against a sentence of death on constitutional grounds. Additional prisoners gained the right to appeal against the mandatory death penalty in 2007, and in 2010 the High Court of Justice implied in Queen v. Knight that judicial enforcement of constitutional rights should be speedier. Under Pratt & Morgan v. Jamaica, prisoners are already removed from death row after 5 years (and cannot be executed), and it is possible that Queen v. Knight (2010) will lead to speedier resentencing.

None.

None.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is Grenada’s highest domestic court, and its jurisprudence can be searched at http://www.privy-council.org.uk/output/Page31.asp.

The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court serves as Grenada’s Court of Appeals, and its jurisprudence can be searched at http://eccourts.org/judgments.html.

None.

None.