The Debate of Reinstating Capital Punishment in Britain

The Debate of Reinstating Capital Punishment in Britain

At the dawn of the 21st century, the death penalty is considered by

most civilized nations as a cruel and inhuman punishment. It has been

abolished de jure or de facto by 106 nations, 30 countries have

abolished it since 1990. However, the death penalty continues to be

commonly applied in other nations. China, the Democratic Republic of

Congo, the United States and Iran are the most prolific executioners

in the world. Indeed, the US is one of six countries (including also

Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen) which executes people

who were under 18 years-old at the time they committed their crimes.

While international documents have restricted and in some cases even

banned the death penalty, its application is still not against

customary international law. Much debate continues in the US as to

whether it constitutes an appropriate punishment, at least to the most

heinous crimes. In recent years, the debate has been further fuelled

by the use of new technologies, which have shown that a large

proportion of people sentenced to death are, indeed, innocent.

The death penalty is no more effective a deterrent than life

imprisonment... It is also evident that the burden of capital

punishment falls upon the poor, the ignorant and the underprivileged

members of society."

- United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Each year since 1976, three more countries a year have added their

names to the list of countries that have abolished the death penalty.

A majority of nations have ended capital punishment in law or

practice.

The United Nations Human Right...

... middle of paper ...

...hought to what will happen to them

when in the heat of the moment they pick up the carving knife?

It is unlikely that a handful of executions a year will have any real

deterrent effect particularly on the people whom society would most

like to be deterred, e.g. serial killers, multiple rapists and drugs

barons. Yet these particular criminals are the least likely to be

executed, the serial killers will be found insane and the drug barons

will use any means to avoid conviction e.g. intimidation of witnesses.

So we go back to the situation where only "sane" murderers can be

executed. Thus a modern day Ruth Ellis might also hang because she was

sane, whilst Beverley Allitt, who murdered four small children, would

be reprieved after because she has Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, or

so she and certain psychiatrists claim.