德国黑森州通过投票决定废除死刑

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

德国黑森州日前通过投票，最终决定废除其宪法中的死刑，这意味着一项拥有69年历史的允许死刑的法律得到了修改。

The western state is the last in Germany to amendits local legal code, after the national constitutionabolished capital punishment in 1949.

自从1949年德国宪法废除死刑之后，这个德国西部州就成为了最后一个要去修改这项当地法规的州。

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

周四公投的结果显示，约83%的选民赞成改变这项1946年的法规。

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

该投票是象征性的，因为联邦法律总是高过州法律。

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

在1946年至1949年间，该州有两人被判处死刑，但这些判决后来被改判为无期徒刑。

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

所有欧盟国家都禁止死刑，所以这项历史悠久的法规会让德国觉得很尴尬，因为德国一直以来都高调地反对死刑。