The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the recent decision of the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic that the death penalty cannot be reintroduced under the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan, and that proposed constitutional amendments to that effect are impermissible.
In its decision of December 10, 2025, the Constitutional Court found that the reintroduction of the death penalty would be incompatible with the constitutional guarantee of the right to life and with the express constitutional prohibition of the death penalty. The Court further recalled that Kyrgyzstan has undertaken binding commitments under international human rights treaties— in particular the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty—forbidding the reintroduction of capital punishment.
«Justice systems in all countries are vulnerable to error or abuse, and the death penalty makes any such failure irreversible», said Temur Shakirov, Director of the ICJ Europe and Central Asia Programme. «Maintaining the abolition of capital punishment therefore remains essential to the effective protection of the right to life.»
ICJ noted that the Court’s reasoning reflects the correct place of international human rights treaties in the constitutional system of Kyrgyzstan. With respect to this, the ICJ salutes the critical role of the Court in upholding the rule of law and protecting human rights.
«While under international human rights law and standards States are obliged to take all necessary measures to respond effectively to violence against women and children, including by conducting prompt and impartial investigations with a view to brining those responsible to justice, as well as securing meaningful protection and support for victims and survivors, these objectives can and must be pursued without resorting to capital punishment,» ICJ said.
