Govt submits bill to regulate executions by hanging in Maldives

The government has submitted a bill to Parliament proposing procedures for carrying out death sentences by hanging, including requirements for execution methods, the presence of officials and circumstances under which executions must be postponed.

The bill, submitted on behalf of the government by Guraidhoo MP Hanaan Mohamed Rasheed, has been scheduled for its first reading at Monday afternoon's parliamentary sitting.

Under the proposed legislation, executions would be carried out by placing a noose around the convicted person's neck and suspending them by the rope until death.

The bill specifies that the equipment used must be suitable for the procedure and that executions must be conducted in a manner intended to cause death as quickly as possible while minimising pain.

It also requires personnel involved in carrying out executions to have received appropriate training.

The proposed law identifies four categories of officials who must be present during an execution: the Commissioner of Prisons or a designated corrections officer, the Commissioner of Police or a designated police officer, the Prosecutor General or a designated prosecutor, and a medical practitioner.

In addition to these officials, the bill grants the right to attend executions to family members of the convicted person, family members of the victim in murder cases, and the convicted person's legal representatives.

The legislation also outlines procedures for handling the body following an execution. The body must be handed over to the convicted person's family. If no family member agrees to receive it, Maldives Correctional Service would be responsible for burial arrangements.

The bill identifies several circumstances in which an execution must be postponed.

For pregnant women sentenced to death, execution would be deferred until childbirth and until the child reaches the age of two. The legislation also provides for postponement where a female prisoner has a child under the age of two.

Executions must also be postponed if the convicted person applies to a court for a review of the judgment imposing the sentence, until the court determines the application.

Similarly, where a case concerning postponement is submitted to the Supreme Court under the law, the execution must be deferred until the court reaches a decision.

The bill further requires postponement where the convicted person's physical health is below the required standard, until their condition improves. The same provision applies where their mental health is below the required standard, with execution deferred until their mental health improves.

The proposed legislation assigns responsibility for decisions concerning executions, related procedures and postponements to a seven-member panel.

The panel would comprise a commissioned corrections officer appointed by the Commissioner of Prisons, a senior police officer appointed by the Commissioner of Police, a prosecutor appointed by the Prosecutor General, a member of Parliament selected by Parliament, a doctor appointed by the Maldives Medical and Dental Council, a representative appointed by the Supreme Court, and a person authorised to provide religious guidance appointed by the Supreme Council for Islamic Fatwa.

Decisions made by the panel could be challenged before the Supreme Court.

The bill also states that executions may be carried out only after all three stages of the judicial process have been completed and the Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence.

The Maldives has not carried out an execution since 1954, despite courts continuing to impose death sentences.

Before amendments introduced by the current administration to the country's drug legislation, death sentences were imposed in murder cases.

The government last disclosed the number of prisoners facing capital punishment in 2024, when it said four people were imprisoned under death sentences upheld by the Supreme Court. Since then, the Supreme Court has upheld death sentences in additional cases.

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announced in March 2026 that legislation would be introduced to regulate the implementation of capital punishment.

Separately, amendments to the Drugs Act provide for the death penalty in certain drug trafficking cases involving specified quantities of controlled substances, subject to a unanimous decision by a Supreme Court bench.

The thresholds specified under the law include trafficking more than 350 grammes of cannabis, more than 250 grammes of diamorphine, or more than 100 grammes of a controlled substance listed in Schedule 1.

The proposed execution legislation would establish procedures for implementing death sentences if passed by Parliament and enacted into law.