Kirghizistan
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 10 December 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.
In October 2025, draft constitutional amendments proposing the reintroduction of the death penalty were made public. The President subsequently requested the Constitutional Court to review their constitutionality. On 10 December 2025, the Constitutional Court concluded that the proposed amendments were incompatible with the Constitution and could not be submitted to a referendum.
Kyrgyzstan is a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to its Second Optional Protocol, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. The Second Optional Protocol reflects a commitment by States parties to the permanent abolition of capital punishment and does not permit reintroduction of the death penalty once the obligation has been undertaken. The Constitutional Court referred to these treaty commitments as part of the legal framework relevant to its assessment.
