The Death Penalty

1
The Death Penalty

• Unit 21

2
Early Death Penalty Laws

• The first established death penalty laws date as
  far back as the 18th Century BC in the Code of
  King Hammurabi of Babylon
• It codified the death penalty for 25 different
  crimes

3
The Code of Hamurabi

• If a builder builds a house for someone, and
  does not construct it properly, and the house
  which he built falls in and kills its owner, then
  that builder shall be put to death. If it kills
  the son of the owner, then the son of that
  builder shall be put to death

4
Types of retributive punishment

• Lex talionis retribution punishment in kind
  (an eye for an eye)
• Lex salica punishment through compensation (the
  principle of substitution)

5
The Torah

• Murder
• Kidnapping
• Magic
• Violation of the Sabbath
• Blasphemy
• Sexual offences

6
Quran

• If anyone kills a person unless it be for
  murder or for spreading mischief in the land it
  would be as if he killed all people. And if
  anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved
  the life of all people

7
Moses Maimonides, 12th c.

• It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a
  thousand guilty persons than to put a single
  innocent one to death

8
Death penalty in English history

• At Common Law capital punishment was imposed for
  a few very serious offences such as treason,
  murder, rape and burning a dwelling-house.
• As late as 1688 about 50 offences carried the
  death penalty
• By 1800 English law had some 200 capital offences
  (including cutting down a tree or stealing an
  animal)

9
John Locke (1632-1704)

• A person forfeits his rights (including his right
  to life) when committing a crime
• Once rights are forfeited, punishment is
  justified for two reasons
• 1) criminals deserve punishment
• 2) punishment is needed to protect our society by
  deterring crime through example

10
Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)

• On Crimes and Punishment (1764) the right to
  life is not forfeitable
• People do not sacrifice their rights to life when
  entering into the social contract

11
Death Penalty Today

• In April 1999, the UN Human Rights Commission
  passed the Resolution Supporting Worldwide
  Moratorium on Executions
• Over 90 countries still retain the death penalty,
  including China, Iran and the US
• Today over 60 of Americans support the death
  penalty

12
Capital crimes today

• Premeditated murder
• Espionage
• Treason
• Part of military justice

13
European Convention on Human Rights

• Sixth Protocol (1983) abolition of capital
  punishment in time of peace
• Thirteenth Protocol (2002) abolition of capital
  punishment in all circumstances

14
Abolition of the death penalty in the UK

• 1969 (except for treason)
• in 1999 the home secretary signed the 6th
  protocol of the European Convention of Human
  Rights which formally abolished the death penalty
  in the U.K.

15
Abolitionists

• Abolitionists people who are against the death
  penalty
• Death penalty does not deter criminals, violates
  human rights, leads to executions of wrongfully
  convicted people, discriminates against the
  minorities and the poor

16
Retentionists

• People who support the death penalty
• Main arguments prevent (from repeating the
  crime), deter and avenge (an eye for an eye)

17
Lord Kennets speech on November 9, 1961

• outlined main arguments against the death penalty
  in five verbs
• prevent,
• reform,
• research,
• deter,
• avenge

18
Prevent

• To prevent the same man from doing it again

19
Reform

• Rehabilitation a man should be helped with his
  social function by a rehabilitatory treatment

20
Research

• We should find out about the motives, characters
  and personality structures of criminals, thus
  finding things that would enable taking measures
  to reduce the crime rate

21
Deter

• The evidence proves that the death penalty is not
  an effective deterrent against violent crime

22
Avenge

• Vengeance is not a proper motive for the State in
  dealing with convicted criminals

23
The 14th Dalai Lama on the Death Penalty

• The death penalty fulfils a preventive function,
  but it is also very clearly a form of revenge...
  I am optimistic that it remains possible to deter
  criminal activity, and prevent such harmful
  consequences of such acts in society, without
  having to resort to the death penalty.

24
Legal terms

• Death penalty
• Capital punishment
• Smrtna kazna
• Poena capitalis

25
Legal terms

• To commit a crime
• Pociniti kazneno djelo
• To try
• Voditi sudski postupak, suditi
• To convict
• Proglasiti krivim
• To sentence
• Osuditi, izreci kaznu