so long ago, in 1967. His name was Ronald Ryan. He was hanged for shooting a prison

officer during a jail-break. Many people pushed for a different outcome and there were lots

of big protests before and after. And by 1985 each of the states and territories had removed

capital punishment from their laws.

There are a few reasons why that happened. Jails and rehabilitation programs to help

criminals were improving, which meant people could more easily turn their lives around

after committing a crime. Others argued some people might be wrongfully convicted of a

crime and sentenced to death before the error is discovered, so life imprisonment would

be a better option.

Although things have now changed here, capital punishment laws haven't changed everywhere

around the world. Most countries have abolished it, but more than 50 still have the death

sentence for some crimes. And they include big or wealthy countries like Japan, Indonesia

and parts of the United States, but also smaller countries like Tonga and North Korea. Of all

those nations still using capital punishment China has the largest known number of people

sentenced to death each year.