The LAWASIA regional lawyers' organisation has called for a moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty in any jurisdiction or territory in the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) which is in the process of undertaking a review of its policy on the death penalty.

At a meeting in Cambodia on 2 November, LAWASIA's Council also called on governments in the ESCAP region which currently retain the death penalty to review their respective policies on capital punishment.

The New Zealand Law Society is a member of LAWASIA, which includes organisations, law firms and individual lawyers from over 40 jurisdictions.

The LAWASIA Council said it noted with concern that the reintroduction of the death penalty is under consideration in some jurisdictions.

"It also notes that some jurisdictions which retain the death penalty are, nevertheless, reducing the circumstances in which it may be applied."