Reference on the Death Penalty Final Report Advisory Council of Jurists December 2000 Introduction On August 8-9 2000 the Advisory Council of Jurists considered two issues referred to it by the Forum. Seven Forum Members have nominated representatives to the Council. As the most recent Member to the Forum, Nepal is yet to nominate its representative to the Council. The Jurists present at the meeting were the Honourable Justice Dame Silvia Cartwright of New Zealand (President), Sir Ronald Wilson of Australia, Professor JE Sahetapy of Indonesia and Mr Sedfrey Ordonez of the Philippines. The Jurists present at the meeting decided to solicit the comments of the absent Members before distributing their final report as they felt that the final report should reflect the views of all Members. The Council invites the Forum to consider the action it might take in light of the following recommendations. Preamble The Council is cognisant of the substantial body of international jurisprudence relating to the death penalty, which recognises its imposition as a limited exception to the right to life. It also notes that human rights are universal, indivisible and aspirational. Reflecting that the common basis of all human rights is the recognition of the fundamental and inalienable dignity of the human person, the Council considers that in commenting on the death penalty it must pay regard not only to literal denial to the right to life, but to the broader issue of the denial to the right to live in dignity. 3