Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act 1965
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Under English law, the Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act 1965 is a statute abolishing the death penalty for murder in the United Kingdom. The Act replaces the penalty of death with a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
The Act was introduced to Parliament as a private member's bill. The Act provided that charges of capital murder at the time it was passed were to be treated as charges of simple murder and all sentences of death were to be commuted to sentences of life imprisonment. The Act also contained a sunset clause, which stated that the Act would be repealed unless renewed by Parliament within five years. This was done in 1969 and the Act was made permanent.
The Act overlooked four other capital offences: high treason, "piracy with violence" (piracy with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm), arson in royal dockyards and espionage, as well as other capital offences under military law. The death penalty was not finally abolished in the United Kingdom until 1998. However the last executions in the United Kingdom were in 1964, for murder.
