The Royal Commission on Capital Punishment 1949–1953 reviewed the application of death penalty in the United Kingdom, including the questions of what crimes should receive the death penalty and what method of execution should be employed. The commission was set up by the Attlee government in an attempt to defuse the long-term political debate over capital punishment. The Royal Warrant establishing the commission (dated 4 May 1949) instructed their inquiry to assume the retention of the death penalty. In their report, the Commission described their own task as "trying to find some practical half-way house between the present scope of the death penalty and its abolition".
The thirteen commissioners met 63 times in total, holding their first meeting on 27 May 1949. Its Chairman was Sir Ernest Gowers GCB, GBE. Gowers was profoundly affected by the evidence presented to the commission and said later that what he learned as chairman of the commission converted him from vague support of capital punishment to strong opposition.
