“France has today ratified Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. Ambassador Bruno Gain, the French Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, completed the formal ratification process on the first European Day against the Death Penalty (10 October), organised by the Council of Europe. France is the 40th of the Council of Europe’s 47 member states to ratify Protocol 13, which entered into force on 1 July 2003.”