International Mechanism Submissions

This report addresses Brunei Darussalam’s compliance with its international human rights obligations with respect to the death penalty and related issues. Brunei Darussalam is a monarchy and former British protectorate. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah has governed Brunei since 1967. The Sultan has few limitations on his authority. A Legislative Council, composed of appointed, elected, and ex officio members, has a consultative role in approving legislation and state budgets. Brunei has not carried out any executions since 1957 and therefore is de facto abolitionist. Since the third-cycle UPR, Brunei completed implementation of its Syariah (i.e., Sharia) Penal Code (SPC). The SPC includes a mandatory death penalty by stoning for many crimes, including crimes that do not result in death. The SPC also authorizes the death penalty for sex outside of marriage and consensual same-sex sexual relations, among other conduct. In response to widespread criticism of the SPC, the Sultan in 2019 declared that Brunei had “adopted a de facto moratorium on the death penalty in all cases”—a moratorium that evidently is still in effect. There have been no known death sentences handed down in Brunei since 2017, at which point there were an estimated six individuals on death row.

As of 2019, Brunei described itself as “taking steps towards the ratification of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).”