Capital punishment in Ghana

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Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Ghana only for high treason. Ghana executed for last time a criminal in 1993. The method of execution is by firing squad.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/6665/2017/en/|title=Abolitionist and retentionist countries (as of July 2018)|accessdate=25 July 2022|date=23 October 2018|publisher=Amnesty International}} It is considered "abolitionist in practice."{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/6665/2017/en/|title=Abolitionist and retentionist countries (as of July 2018)|accessdate=25 July 2022|date=23 October 2018|publisher=Amnesty International}} Capital punishment was a mandatory sentence for certain ordinary criminal offenses until 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.pgaction.org/ilhr/adp/gha.html|title=Ghana and the Death Penalty|accessdate=25 July 2022|publisher=Parliamentarians for Global Action}}

Seven new death sentences were handed down in 2021, while 165 people were on death row in Ghana at the end of 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/5418/2022/en/|title=Death sentences and executions 2021|accessdate=25 July 2022|date=24 May 2022|publisher=Amnesty International}}

On 25 July 2023, the Parliament of Ghana voted to legally abolish capital punishment for ordinary offences. Capital punishment remains a prescribed penalty under the constitution for high treason. The country's legal code was amended to replace capital punishment with life imprisonment. The legislation was tabled by Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, who described it as a "great advancement of the human rights record of Ghana."{{Cite news |last=Adombila |first=Maxwell Akalaare |last2=Akorlie |first2=Christian |date=2023-07-25 |title=Ghana parliament votes to abolish the death penalty |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ghana-parliament-votes-abolish-death-penalty-2023-07-25/ |access-date=2023-07-25}}

The abolition of the death penalty in Ghana is not retroactive; as of August 2023 death sentences continued to be handed down for crimes committed before the abolition went into effect.{{Cite web |last= |date=2023-08-11 |title=Father sentenced to death for offering son as sacrifice |url=https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2023/08/11/father-sentenced-to-death-for-offering-son-as-sacrifice/ |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=Ghana Business News}}