Capital Punishment in Italy: Abolished Since 1994, Last Execution 1947

Italy has no equipment for capital punishment because the death penalty has been completely abolished.

Timeline

• 1947: Last executions (by firing squad) – three collaborators sentenced by military tribunal.
• 1948: Constitution (Art. 27) prohibits death penalty for ordinary crimes in peacetime.
• 1994: Parliament abolishes it for all crimes, including military wartime offenses.
• 2007: Constitutional amendment (Art. 27) makes abolition absolute and irreversible.

International Commitment

Italy is a founding signatory of Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights (total abolition) and a vocal advocate for global moratorium.

Historical Methods (Pre-Abolition)

Firing squad (military), guillotine (pre-1889, in some pre-unification states), hanging (rare). No gas chamber, electric chair, or lethal injection were ever used.