Ⅰ. Guaranteeing the Fundamental Human Freedoms: 1. Right to Life and Personal Liberty B. Main Topics 1) Discussions on the Abolition of the Death Penalty A) Korea Awaits the Third Constitutional Appeal on the Death Penalty According to Amnesty International, 144 countries are listed as abolitionist7) including 28 abolitionist de facto, and 55 countries are listed as retentionist. South Korea is classified as abolitionist de facto as the death penalty has not been executed for over 20 years since 1997. According to the ‘2021 Supreme Court Yearbook’ published by the National Court Administration, no criminal cases resulted in death sentences in 2020. In addition, the ‘Monthly Court Statistics’ from the official website of the Supreme Court of Korea points out that no death sentence was imposed both in the High Court and Supreme Court in 2021. As of 2020, 56 prisoners are on death row.8) The appellate court upheld the life imprisonment sentence of an offender convicted of murdering three women from Nowon district in March 2021. The court states, ‘while the case calls for the death penalty,’ this court has no other option than to impose a life term in prison – South Korea is an abolitionist in practice in which capital punishment no longer has a practical effect as a punitive measure in the country.“ The court also insisted that the life sentence should be imposed without parole. This demonstrates that the judiciary clearly recognizes South Korea to be abolitionist de facto. The Constitutional Court upheld the death penalty in its rulings on Nov. 28, 1996 (constitutionality of Article 250 of the Criminal Act, Case No. 1995HunBa1) and on Feb. 25, 2010 (constitutionality of Article 41, etc. of the Criminal Act, Case No. 7) According to Amnesty International, the abolitionist in practice refers to the countries which retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes but they have not executed anyone during the past 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions. 8) MOJ, “2021 Correctional Services Statistics Yearbook,” July 2021. 15