德國黑森州通過投票決定廢除死刑

The German state of Hesse has voted to finally scrap the death penalty from its constitution, amending a 69-year-old legal anomaly which allowed it.

德國黑森州日前通過投票，最終決定廢除其憲法中的死刑，這意味着一項擁有69年曆史的允許死刑的法律得到了修改。

The western state is the last in Germany to amend its local legal code, after the national constitution abolished capital punishment in 1949.

自從1949年德國憲法廢除死刑之後，這個德國西部州就成爲了最後一個要去修改這項當地法規的州。

Some 83% of voters were in favour of changing the 1946 provision, referendum results on Thursday showed.

週四公投的結果顯示，約83%的選民贊成改變這項1946年的法規。

The vote is a symbolic one, as federal laws have always trumped state ones.

該投票是象徵性的，因爲聯邦法律總是高過州法律。

Between 1946 and 1949, two people were sentenced to death in the state, but the rulings were later commuted to life sentences.

在1946年至1949年間，該州有兩人被判處死刑，但這些判決後來被改判爲無期徒刑。

Capital punishment is banned in all EU countries, so this lingering quirk was seen as an embarrassment to Germany, an outspoken opponent of the practice.

所有歐盟國家都禁止死刑，所以這項歷史悠久的法規會讓德國覺得很尷尬，因爲德國一直以來都高調地反對死刑。