Taiwan court rules death penalty constitutional but only for most serious crimes

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's constitutional court ruled on Friday that the death penalty is constitutional but only for the most serious crimes with the most rigorous legal scrutiny, after considering a petition brought by 37 people who are on death row.

Despite Taiwan's reputation as Asia's most liberal democracy, the death penalty remains broadly popular according to opinion polls, though in recent years it has only rarely been carried out and violent crime is relatively low.

The court, which began hearing the case in April, ruled that though the right to life should be protected, such protections are "not absolute," judge Hsu Tzong-li said.

Rights groups in Taiwan, which was under martial law until 1987, said while there were some positives in the ruling, Taiwan needed to put an end to all executions.

"When will Taiwan finally abolish the death penalty? The road ahead will be even more difficult," said the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, which was supporting the case.

Still, the presidential office said the ruling was an important milestone in Taiwan's judicial system.

"The president understands that there are multiple voices in Taiwan society, and hopes everyone will continue to have dialogue and communication with an attitude of understanding, tolerance and respect," it said.

Taiwan's largest opposition party the Kuomintang expressed regret, saying the court was trying to in essence abolish the death penalty and was going against the feelings of most the island's people.

Taiwan has found itself in hot water internationally before for executions.

In 2020, the government announced the execution of a man convicted of killing six people in an arson attack just hours after winning praise from the European Union for a donation of six million face masks during the COVID pandemic. The EU then criticised Taiwan and called for executions to stop.

In neighbouring China, rights groups estimate thousands of executions a year are carried out, though its government does not publish figures.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kim Coghill)