Civil death is a term that refers to the loss of all or almost all civil rights by a person due to a conviction for a felony (a crime punishable with more than a year's imprisonment) or due to an act by the government of a country that results in the loss of civil rights. It is usually inflicted on persons convicted of crimes against the state or adults determined by a court to be legally incompetent because of mental disability^[1].

In medieval Europe, felons lost all civil rights upon their conviction. This civil death often lead to actual death, since anyone could kill and injure an ex-felon with impunity.^[2]

A contemporary example of civil death is the "illegal enemy combatant" designation used by the United States government, under which detainees are denied the protection afforded legitimate prisoners of war described in the Geneva Conventions.^{citation needed} A second example of civil death on a wide scale is the use of purges by the former Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.^{citation needed}

Historically outlawry, that is, declaring a person as an outlaw, was a common form of civil death.^{citation needed}

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