- Capital punishment in Iceland
The medieval
Icelandic Commonwealth (930-1262), having no central executive powers, did not apply capital punishment. It was, however, possible for theAlthing to declare a man "réttdræpur" (English: "rightfully killable"). This made the killing of the person in question legal—although the executive power was invested in whosoever cared to pursue it, instead of being the duty of state officials.According to a plaque at
Thingvellir National Park, 72 people are known to have been executed in the period from 1602 to 1750. Execution methods included beheading, hanging, burning at the stake and drowning.Later, when
Iceland fell under theDanish Crown , Danish laws more or less applied. The frequency of capital punishment increased considerably with the adoption ofLutheranism in the 17th century, but gradually disappeared by the mid-19th century.The last execution
The last application of capital punishment in
Iceland took place onJanuary 12 1830 , inVatnsdalshólar inHúnavatnssýsla . The convicts wereAgnes Magnúsdóttir , a farmhand, andFriðrik Sigurðsson , a farmer's son fromKatadalur . Their crime was the murder of two men onMarch 14 1828 :Nathan Ketilsson , a farmer ofIllugastaðir , andPétur Jónsson of theGeitaskarð farm. The case was the basis for a 1995 film byEgill Eðvarðsson , "Agnes".Abolition
Four years later, the last execution of an Icelander was carried out in
Denmark . After 1830, dozens of Icelanders were found guilty of a crime punishable by death. Most of the cases wereinfanticide s, where women who were unable to care for their newly-born illegitimate children would kill them. However, they were all granted a clemency by theKing of Denmark . In 1869, a new law took effect in Iceland, harmonising Icelandic and Danish law—this law abolished the death penalty for lesser offences. In 1928 the death penalty was abolished entirely, and has not since had a place in Icelandic law.Since the 1995 revision of the constitution, the reintroduction of capital punishment is forbidden.
ources
* [http://visindavefur.hi.is/svar.asp?id=4649 Hvenær var síðasta aftakan á Íslandi?]
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