Capital punishment (trest smrti inCzech) is forbidden by theCharter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of theCzech Republic (part of the constitutional law of the Czech Republic) and is simultaneously prohibited by international legal obligations arising from the Czech Republic's membership in both theCouncil of Europe and theEuropean Union.
Historically, capital punishment was legal, and was used, when the Czech Republic was part ofCzechoslovakia, until the punishment was abolished by amendment of the federal criminal code in 1990. The last execution was carried out in 1989.
Capital punishment was common under theAustrian Monarchy (with a short exception from 1787 to 1795 under the rule ofJoseph II), inAustria-Hungary, and from 1918 in the newly created Czechoslovakia. From 1918 to 1989, a total of 1,217[1] people were executed legally, the majority of them (61%)immediately after World War II; many others (21%) were executed forpolitical reasons during theearly years of communist rule and the rest of the executed people were convicted criminals (18%).[2]
The common method of execution during the entire period waspole hanging. Other methods of hanging orfiring squad were rare. Following the abolition of open-air execution areas in 1954, an execution cell was built in the basement ofPankrác Prison, where executions were carried out until 1989. The device in Pankrác's "death chamber" was a simplenoose attached to the wall with a remotely-operatedtrapdoor in the floor.[3]
During the presidency ofTomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1918–35) 16 people were executed, including 4 for militarytreason. Masaryk was an opponent of capital punishment and had the privilege of commuting death sentences, one he exercised frequently. His successorEdvard Beneš signed the death sentences for 8 people, including 3 for military treason. After his resignation 2 more criminals were executed before the occupation of the country.
During the time of theGerman occupation thousands were executed and hundreds of thousands were killed without any trial. Althoughsummary executions happened rarely (in comparison to other countries occupied by the Germans), such occasions happened nearly every year (seemassacres during World War II). InPraguePankrác Prison 1,079 wereguillotined or hanged, about 550 were shot inKobylisy Shooting Range, about 800 were shot or hanged inBrno, about 300 were shot or hanged inTheresienstadt, etc. Hundreds of Czech people were also tried and executed in German prisons, such asDresden (846 people) orBerlinPlötzensee Prison (677 people). Thousands of others were killed by hanging, gas chambers or shooting in theNazi concentration camps.[4]
In the period of German occupation, only 3 criminals were sentenced to death and executed by Czech courts.[2]
After World War II, based on theBeneš decrees, special courts at the local level (lidové soudy,people's courts) were set up to punishwar crimes andcollaboration. Until 1948 they sentenced 713 people to death. Another 10 people were executed for common crimes.[2]
During the presidency ofKlement Gottwald (1948–1953), 237 people were executed, of whom over 190 for political crimes. Gottwald pardoned 18 people. Among the best known of those executed areMilada Horáková, a politician, hanged in 1950. The widely publicisedPrague Trials with the former party'sgeneral secretaryRudolf Slánský resulted in 11 executions.[2]
During this period hundreds of other people died due to cruel conditions in prisons and concentration camps such as the uranium mine inJáchymov.
During the presidency ofAntonín Zápotocký (1953–1957), 94 people were executed. That figure fell to 87 people duringAntonín Novotný's presidency (1957–1968), 14 people during the presidency ofLudvík Svoboda (1968–1975, including a period during which Prime MinisterLubomír Štrougal acted as President during Svoboda's illness), and then to 38 people during that ofGustáv Husák (1975–1989).[2]
From 1954 to 1968 all executions were carried out inPankrác Prison,Prague; after 1968 some took place inBratislava. In 1956 the number of crimes punishable by death was reduced and mandatory review of sentences was introduced. In 1961 a law made the conditions for capital punishment more strict, with only especially brutal murders punishable by death.
The last execution in Czechoslovakia took place on 8 June 1989, whenŠtefan Svitek was hanged in Bratislava prison for triple murder; in today's Czech Republic the last executed person wasVladimír Lulek, hanged on 2 February 1989 in Pankrác Prison for murder of his wife and four children. The last person sentenced to death was Zdeněk Vocásek, but his sentence was changed to life imprisonment in 1990.
Soon after the Communist partyfell from power in 1989 the new presidentVáclav Havel pushed the abolition of capital punishment through parliament. A May 1990 criminal law reform replaced capital punishment withlife imprisonment. Furthermore, in January 1991 capital punishment became prohibited by theCharter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which became part of theCzechoslovak constitutional law and since thedissolution of Czechoslovakia remains part of theCzech constitutional law. The practice became further prohibited when the Czech Republic joined theCouncil of Europe in 1993 and theEuropean Union in 2004.
A 2008 poll found that over 60 percent of those questioned said they thought the death penalty should be reintroduced.[5] In 2007 it was 58%.[6] However, a 2019 poll showed that support for the death penalty was declining, with 50 percent of Czechs saying they would like the death penalty to be reintroduced, while 41 percent were against the reintroduction.[7] A 2023 poll has shown that 51% of Czechs were against the death penalty, 42% supported it and 7% were unsure or undecided.[8] A 2025 poll found that 52% of respondents supported the death penalty, 45% opposed it and 3% were undecided, reversing the recent trend of increased opposition to the death penalty.[9]