Petition · past parliament

Bring back Capital Punishment (hanging) for murder, rape & child sex offenders

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Capital Punishment was last used in the 1960s.
With knife crime on the rise and young people losing their lives on our streets, it is time for action from our Government.
Anyone who commits First Degree Murder should face the death penalty.
In addition, those convicted of rape or child sex offences should face the death penalty.
It is time to bring back the death penalty for criminals convicted of murder, rape and child sex offenders.
The conviction would need to proved beyond all reasonable doubt.
We believe that tougher action needs to be taken for the most serious crimes on the statute book.
Bring back Capital Punishment.
Bring back Hanging!

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

We can't accept your petition because we are unsure what offences you would like to be subject to capital punishment. In particular, there is no offence of "first degree murder" in English law and all convictions in the English courts already have to be on the basis of being proved "beyond reasonable doubt".

You could start a new petition calling for courts to be able to apply the death penalty in all cases of murder, rape and sexual offences against children if that is something you would like to see happen.

Timeline

25 May 2019 Petition opened for signatures
24 Jun 2019 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 24 Jun 2019

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.