Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Jamaica. Currently, the only crime punishable by death is aggravated murder. The method of execution is hanging. Jamaica was originally a British colony. The last person executed in Jamaica was Nathan Foster, who was convicted of murder and hanged in 1988. The Jamaican Parliament had placed a moratorium on the death penalty until 2009, when it was lifted. Since 2009, capital punishment is legal and executions in Jamaica could resume; however, there have been no executions since.
In 1999, a series of hangings - by some accounts, amounting to 50 - were scheduled by the Jamaican government, following the recent hangings (the first in 20 years) in Trinidad and Tobago. Ultimately, after international protests, the executions were not carried out.[1]
It was estimated in 2012 that there were seven or eight inmates in Jamaica were on death row.[2] However, by 2018 this had been reduced to zero, with no executions having taken place.[3]
