Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis (Saint Kitts and Nevis).

Latin America (Caribbean).

English.

39,129.

Abolitionist de facto.

2008.

Hanging.

Executions can be carried out by hanging.

0.

There was no one under sentence of death in Saint Kitts and Nevis at the end of 2020. The last person on death row had its sentence commuted on October 22, 2018.

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

No.

The Constitution implies a death penalty in Article 4, which guarantees the right to life except when he has been convicted of murder or treason under a law. Article 28(1)(e) disqualifies the election or appointment of death-sentenced prisoners to public office. Article 31(4)(a) states that an elected or appointed official must cease to perform the functions of his office if he is under the sentence of death and vacate his seat thirty days after sentencing with some extensions given by the Speaker for time to appeal. Article 66 outlines the pardoning powers of the Governor-General and article 67 establishes the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy. Article 68(1) mandates the automatic consideration of death-sentenced prisoners for clemency, by the Committee established in articles 66 and 67.

Aggravated Murder.

The Constitution allows for the sentence of death for the crimes of “treason or murder.” At least one sentencing decision of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court [for Saint Christopher (Kitts) and Nevis] references the constitutional principle that the death penalty may only be applied to the “most exceptional and extreme cases of murder.”

Treason.

The Constitution provides for the sentence of death for the crimes of “treason or murder.”

Comments.

The Constitution provides for the sentence of death for the crimes of “treason or murder.” This precludes crimes distinct from treason or murder from being death-eligible, but does not create a death penalty for the various forms of murder or treason. Instead, this constitutional provision allows national legislation regarding those offenses. We were unable to find the national legislation that enables, defines or limits application of the death penalty for murder or treason. We are uncertain whether the death penalty applies for treason. In the case of murder, we were able to locate a sentencing decision in which all parties and the court acknowledged a constitutional legal limit on application of the death penalty to the “most exceptional and extreme cases of murder,” or, aggravated murder.

In 2001, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal ruled that the mandatory death penalty “robs [defendants] of any opportunity whatsoever to consider mitigating circumstances even as an irrevocable punishment is meted out to them.” In 2002, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Berthill Fox v. The Queen adopted this principle for Saint Kitts and Nevis, stating that the mandatory death penalty violates the constitutional protection against inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In Saint Kitts and Nevis, these decisions limit application of the death penalty (for murder) to the worst aggravated murders.

Comments.

The mandatory death penalty has been struck down in Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Individuals Below Age 18 at Time of Crime.

Saint Kitts and Nevis has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Additionally, the Offences against the Person Act 1873 (as amended), which may be applicable, prohibits the death sentence for individuals who were under 18 at the time of the crime’s commission.

Comments.

As of August 5, 2010, we lacked statutory resources to fully answer this question. Given that Saint Kitts and Nevis derives from the Commonwealth legal tradition, it is highly likely that individuals below the age of 18 at the time of the crime, pregnant women, the intellectually disabled and the mentally ill are at least somewhat protected from execution.

Aggravated Murder.

Charles Elroy LaPlace was executed on December 19, 2008 for killing his estranged wife; he had abducted and held her, and he stabbed her to death as she attempted to escape.

In 2001, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal ruled in Spence and Hughes v. The Queen (appeals from sentences of death in Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) that the mandatory death penalty “robs [defendants] of any opportunity whatsoever to consider mitigating circumstances even as an irrevocable punishment is meted out to them.” In 2002, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Berthill Fox v. The Queen adopted this principle for Saint Kitts and Nevis, stating that the mandatory death penalty violates constitutional protections against inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In Saint Kitts and Nevis, these decisions limit application of the death penalty to the worst aggravated murders.

In 1993, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled in Pratt and Morgan v. Jamaica that a five-year delay of execution after sentencing is presumptively “inhuman and degrading punishment.” Courts have observed that because the appeals process tends to take more than 5 years, the effect of Pratt is to limit executions.

The constitution does not address the protection of human rights under international law.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is not a party to the ICCPR, so the Human Rights Committee does not issue observations pursuant to periodic review or decisions on petitions filed by individuals.

Saint Kitts and Nevis will be reviewed through the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review process on January 28, 2011.

Yes. In fact, indigent defendants have access to legal counsel only in capital cases.

As of August 5, 2010, we did not determine whether lawyers are available for indigent prisoners on appeal.

It is reported that Charles Elroy Laplace, executed on December 19, 2008, did not exhaust all of his appellate remedies. Laplace’s attorney missed the deadline to file an appeal and Laplace subsequently fired him. Laplace was unrepresented at the time of his execution.

Capital trials are heard by the High Court and may be appealed to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, and finally to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom.

The Constitution outlines the clemency process in articles 66-68. A Minister appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister may control or highly influence the Governor-General’s exercise of the prerogative of mercy. That Minister, prior to the execution of a sentence of death, must obtain a report from the trial judge and other helpful information and submit it to the Advisory Committee, which makes a recommendation on the prerogative of mercy to the Minister. The Minister, who need not act in accordance with that recommendation, advises the Governor-General on his exercise of the prerogative of mercy. The Governor-General may then pardon an offender or stay or commute a sentence, acting “in accordance with the advice of [the] Minister.”

Yes. Jury trials are used in criminal cases in the High Court.

We have no other comments on the criminal justice system upon completion of our research.

Reports indicate that death-sentenced prisoners are incarcerated in Her Majesty’s Prison in Basseterre, the capital of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

The U.S. State Department reports that prisons in Saint Kitts and Nevis are overcrowded, forcing some prisoners to sleep on floor mats. Prisons remained overcrowded, and facilities austere. Built in 1840, the prison on Saint Kitts had an intended capacity of 150 prisoners but held 259 prisoners; some prisoners slept on mats on the floor. There were separate facilities for men and women. The prison staff periodically received training in human rights. Other reports indicate that conditions immediately prior to execution may be extremely distressing—the evening before the most recent execution, Charles Laplace was bound hand and foot and cast on a mattress in his cell while prison guards threw a drunken “gallows party,” singing into the early morning.

As of July 30, 2010, there are no reports of foreign nationals on Saint Kitts and Nevis’ death row.

As of July 30, 2010, there are no reports of foreign nationals on Saint Kitts and Nevis’ death row.

As of July 30, 2010, all known death row inmates are male.

As of July 30, 2010, there are no known individuals currently under the sentence of death who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime’s commission. Saint Kitts and Nevis has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits the execution of individuals for crimes committed while under the age of 18.

Reports that list inmates on death row do not comment on the racial/ethnic composition of death row.

Executions are rare in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The last execution occurred on December 19, 2008, which was the first hanging since 1985.

In 1993, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled in Pratt and Morgan v. Jamaica that a five-year delay of execution after sentencing is presumptively “inhuman and degrading punishment.” Courts have observed that because the appeals process tends to take more than 5 years, the effect of Pratt is to limit executions. Saint Kitts and Nevis carried out its most recent execution in 2008 only after a defense attorney missed a deadline to file an appeal, thus opening the door for execution.

In 2001, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal ruled in Spence and Hughes v. The Queen that the mandatory death penalty “robs [defendants] of any opportunity whatsoever to consider mitigating circumstances even as an irrevocable punishment is meted out to them.” In 2002, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Berthill Fox v. The Queen adopted this principle for Saint Kitts and Nevis, stating that the mandatory death penalty violates the constitutional protection against inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

None.

None.

The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, a regional court for nine member states, publishes judgments here: http://www.eccourts.org/judgments.html. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council publishes its judgments at http://www.jcpc.gov.uk/decided-cases/index.html (starting in August 2009) and http://www.privy-council.org.uk/output/Page31.asp (before August 2009).

None.

None.