Why were executions by guillotine abolished in France on 1981?

For the French people, it means at last joining the rest of Western Europe where, except for Greece, the death penalty has been abolished or fallen into disuse for common criminals. By comparison, 36 of the 50 United States have capital punishment on the books. read more

Capital punishment in France (French: peine de mort en France) is banned by Article 66-1 of the Constitution of the French Republic, voted as a constitutional amendment by the Congress of the French Parliament on 19 February 2007 and simply stating "No one can be sentenced to death" (French: Nul ne peut être condamné à mort). read more

continued to denounce the death penalty. After the election of François Mitterrand, who had always clearly expressed his abolitionist stance, as President of France in 1981, a bill to abolish the death penalty was brought before the National Assembly on 29 August 1981. It was passed into law on 9 October 1981. read more

France Will Retire Its Guillotine and Abolish the Death Penalty By Edward Cody September 18, 1981 France's new Socialist leadership is retiring the guillotine, breaking with nearly 200 years of history during which the terrible machine symbolized the severity and revolutionary traditions of Gallic justice by slicing of countless heads. read more