Constitutional Court rules out reinstatement of death penalty in Kyrgyzstan
On December 10, 2025, the Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan reviewed President Sadyr Zhaparov's submission requesting a legal opinion on a draft constitutional amendment that would allow the application of the death penalty for the rape of children and murders accompanied by rape, Kabar reported.
In exercising its constitutionally vested powers, the Constitutional Court considers the consistency of the proposed amendments with the Constitution as a holistic system, their impact on the foundations of the constitutional order, which centers on fundamental human rights and freedoms and the democratic nature of the state, and their compatibility with the international obligations of the Kyrgyz Republic arising from ratified international treaties.
The Constitutional Court noted that the Constitution enshrines human rights and freedoms as the highest value, and that the system of guarantees for their protection forms the foundation of the constitutional order and predetermines the limits of permissible amendments to the Basic Law. In this regard, the Constitutional Court emphasized that any amendments to the Basic Law in the area of fundamental rights and freedoms require consideration of their systemic nature and potential consequences for the functioning of the entire constitutional model of individual protection. Particular attention must be paid to preventing non-regression of the level of guarantees of rights and freedoms, as their stability and consistency constitute the essence of the constitutionally enshrined priority of the individual and his or her dignity.
In this context, the constitutional review body proceeds from the premise that the prohibition of the death penalty and the recognition of the primacy of the right to life have not only a normative dimension but also a fundamental value dimension. They reflect the choice of the state and the people in favor of a legal regime that excludes the use of this punishment. The right to life and the prohibition of the death penalty serve as systemically important principles that set standards for criminal policy, the administration of justice, the activities of law enforcement agencies, and the penitentiary system. Reinstating the death penalty through a constitutional amendment would mean abandoning these standards, breaking the continuity of legal development, and departing from the chosen constitutional vector, which prioritizes individual dignity and strengthens guarantees of human rights and freedoms.
The Constitutional Court also noted the international legal dimension of the issue under consideration. The Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, by establishing that generally recognized principles and norms of international law are an integral part of the country's legal system, requires compliance with relevant international obligations when making decisions at the national level. According to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a state may not invoke the provisions of its domestic law as justification for failure to implement a treaty, and its termination or suspension is possible only in strictly defined cases.
The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Kyrgyz Republic is a party, aims at the complete and final abolition of the death penalty and does not provide for a denunciation mechanism. This means that by acceding to the Protocol, the state has assumed an indefinite obligation not to reintroduce the death penalty or resort to it under any circumstances. Reintroducing the death penalty into domestic law under such circumstances would inevitably place the Kyrgyz Republic in violation of its treaty obligations, which is incompatible with the constitutionally enshrined recognition of international law and the principle of the good-faith fulfillment of international treaties.
Based on a combination of constitutional and international legal arguments, the Constitutional Court concluded that reinstating the death penalty through a constitutional amendment is unconstitutional, inadmissible, and legally impossible. Accordingly, the draft Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Amendments to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic" cannot be submitted to a referendum, and all procedures for implementing the initiative for its adoption are subject to termination upon the entry into force of the Constitutional Court's Opinion.
It was reported that the Kyrgyz Constitutional Court is set to issue an official conclusion on death penalty reinstatement.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported about the abduction, rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. The case was taken under a personal control of Sadyr Zhaparov. He called for the introduction of the death penalty in the country for particularly grave crimes, such as child rape and the rape and murder of women.
Later, the Administration of the President of Kyrgyzstan initiated constitutional amendments aimed at introducing the death penalty for child rape and the rape and murder of women.
