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In English and Welsh courts a judge traditionally donned the "black cap" when passing the death sentence. The "cap" was merely a piece of square silk which was placed on top of the judge's wig by a court attendant with the point facing outward. I believe that until 1957 the formal sentence of death went as follows:-
(name of defendant), the sentence of this court upon you is that you shall be taken from this place to a lawful prison, thence to a place of execution, and there you suffer death by hanging, and that your body be buried within the precincts of the place where you shall have been last confined prior to your execution. And may God have mercy on your soul.
After the Homicide Act of 1957 came into force which retained the death penalty only for certain categories of murder, the sentence was amended as follows although the black cap was retained:-
(name of defendant), the sentence of this court upon you is that you suffer death in the manner authorised by law. And may God have mercy upon your soul.
The black cap was also used by judges in Northern Ireland, where the Homicide Act never applied and the death penalty continued to be the default punishment for all types of murder, although no executions were carried out between 1961 and its final abolition in the province in 1973. The last death sentence was passed in that year but the death penalty was abolished before it could be carried out. I do not know if the judge wore the black cap while passing the sentence.
I believe that the black cap continued to be used by judges in the Republic of Ireland after independence, but that some judges chose not to wear it. I suspect that it had dropped out of use completely by the the time that the last death sentences were passed by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin in the 1970s and 1980s, none of which were carried out.
It is also my understanding that the black cap had never been a tradition in courts on the Isle of Man where several death sentences were passed in the 1970s and 1980s, none of which were carried out, and where no execution had in fact been carried out since 1872, with even that being the first for several decades. I suspect that the black cap was never used in Jersey where I think at least two executions were carried out in the 20th Century, one in the late 1950s. The court procedures there probably owed more to French practice.
In Scottish courts a substantial black tricorne hat was used, rather than a square of silk. I believe the form of death sentence latterly used in Scotland ran as follows, although it may have been even more verbose in earlier times:-
(name of defendant), in respect of the verdict of guilty of capital murder, the sentence of the court is that you be removed to the prison of Barlinnie in Glasgow, (or other prison), therein to be detained until (date of execution), when at nine o' clock forenoon you will suffer death by hanging. Which is pronounced for doom.
At the words "pronounced for doom" the judge would briefly touch his head with the black tricorne hat rather than wearing it for the whole sentence.
Perhaps other contributors can add to these notes.
(name of defendant), the sentence of this court upon you is that you shall be taken from this place to a lawful prison, thence to a place of execution, and there you suffer death by hanging, and that your body be buried within the precincts of the place where you shall have been last confined prior to your execution. And may God have mercy on your soul.
After the Homicide Act of 1957 came into force which retained the death penalty only for certain categories of murder, the sentence was amended as follows although the black cap was retained:-
(name of defendant), the sentence of this court upon you is that you suffer death in the manner authorised by law. And may God have mercy upon your soul.
The black cap was also used by judges in Northern Ireland, where the Homicide Act never applied and the death penalty continued to be the default punishment for all types of murder, although no executions were carried out between 1961 and its final abolition in the province in 1973. The last death sentence was passed in that year but the death penalty was abolished before it could be carried out. I do not know if the judge wore the black cap while passing the sentence.
I believe that the black cap continued to be used by judges in the Republic of Ireland after independence, but that some judges chose not to wear it. I suspect that it had dropped out of use completely by the the time that the last death sentences were passed by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin in the 1970s and 1980s, none of which were carried out.
It is also my understanding that the black cap had never been a tradition in courts on the Isle of Man where several death sentences were passed in the 1970s and 1980s, none of which were carried out, and where no execution had in fact been carried out since 1872, with even that being the first for several decades. I suspect that the black cap was never used in Jersey where I think at least two executions were carried out in the 20th Century, one in the late 1950s. The court procedures there probably owed more to French practice.
In Scottish courts a substantial black tricorne hat was used, rather than a square of silk. I believe the form of death sentence latterly used in Scotland ran as follows, although it may have been even more verbose in earlier times:-
(name of defendant), in respect of the verdict of guilty of capital murder, the sentence of the court is that you be removed to the prison of Barlinnie in Glasgow, (or other prison), therein to be detained until (date of execution), when at nine o' clock forenoon you will suffer death by hanging. Which is pronounced for doom.
At the words "pronounced for doom" the judge would briefly touch his head with the black tricorne hat rather than wearing it for the whole sentence.
Perhaps other contributors can add to these notes.