latvia continued to hand down death sentences until 1998. on april 15, 1999 the death penalty in peacetime was abolished by ratifying protocol no. 6 to the european convention on human rights. in 2002, latvia signed protocol no. 13 to echr, concerning the abolition of the death penalty under all circumstances. the law on the ratification of protocol 13 was adopted on 13 october 2011 and the protocol was ratified on 26 january 2012. protocol 13 was entered into force on 1 may 2012.