Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the juvenile death penalty is on the agenda for the next session of the UN Human Rights Council.

A resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty was adopted by the UN's Third Committee on 17 November and will be considered by the UN General Assembly in December. The United Kingdom does not intend to press for this topic to be considered at the March 2017 session of the Human Rights Council (HRC).

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is clear that "Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age." Execution of those who committed crimes when juveniles is therefore forbidden by international human rights law. We oppose the death penalty and encourage other states to follow suit.