German state Hesse abolished the death penalty

Summary:

On 28 October the German state Hesse voted in a referendum to formally abolish the death penalty from its constitution. A large majority of 83.2 percent voted in favour of the amendment.

The constitution established in 1946 predated the basic German law that was established in 1949. Though, in practice it was prohibited as German basic law overruled the state's constitution.

Further information:

The referendum was held next to the regional elections and was part of larger constitutional reforms.

Hesse was the last region in Germany to omit the death penalty from its constitution.

News

Deutsche Welle, 02.11.18: German state of Hesse to abolish death penalty https://www.dw.com/en/german-state-of-hesse-to-abolish-death-penalty/a-46126632

Reuters, 24.10.18: German region to vote on decades-old death penalty anomaly https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-politics-hesse-death-penalty/german-region-to-vote-on-decades-old-death-penalty-anomaly-idUKKCN1MY251

The Local (Germany), 02.11.18: German state Hesse to finally scrap death penalty https://www.thelocal.de/20181102/german-region-scraps-death-penalty-fixing-legal-quirk

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