CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

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CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

• The Historic and Contemporary use of Capital
  Punishment in the UK

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CP in the pre-Christian UK

• We can only suppose about the use of CP in Pagan
  Scotland and the UK.
• Very few law codes exist from the Anglo-Saxon,
  or as far as we were concerned, Pictan period to
  provide an insight into legal culture beyond the
  influence of Roman law and how this legal culture
  developed over the course of time.

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What to look for and take notes on

• Important landmarks in the use of Capital
  Punishment in the UK.
• Important landmarks in the abolishment of Capital
  Punishment in the UK.

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Roman Law

• Roman law in a broader sense refers not only to
  the legal system of ancient Rome, but also to the
  law that was applied throughout most of Western
  Europe until the end of the 18th century.

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• As the Romans had adopted Christianity in the
  early part of the 4th Century CE with the rule of
  Constantine I (left), many of the moral
  principles we find today derive from Christian
  sources.

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An aside

• The political decision made by Constantine I to
  adopt Christianity as state religion had a great
  deal to do with its current status as most
  popular world religion (and makes for interesting
  reading).
• As well as ethical codes, many Pagan beliefs,
  celebrations and ceremonies were appropriated by
  early Roman Christians.

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Mithras
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An aside Mithras

• Based on research of Pagan beliefs carried out in
  1903, here are some of the key beliefs about this
  pre-Christian Roman Sun God.
• Sent to earth to live as a mortal through which
  sinners could be reborn into immortal life.
• Died for our sins but came back to life the
  following Sunday.
• Born of a virgin on 25th December attended by
  shepherds and later became known as light of the
  world.

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An aside Mithras

• He had 12 disciples with whom he shared a last
  meal with before dying.
• Following this his followers symbolically
  consumed his flesh and blood and gave each other
  gifts on 25th December.
• Worshipped on Sundays.
• Often painted with a halo around his head.

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Back to Capital Punishment in our History

• Partly due to the male-dominated society of the
  time as well as the fear of a Pagan return to
  threaten Christian society, the Witch Trials were
  a dark time in the UKs relationship with Capital
  Punishment.
• Male Christian Priests set about burning, hanging
  and drowning men and women.

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Remember

• At this time crime was not qualified so much by
  the state and instead seen as sin as concluded
  by the Church.
• Most ethical affairs were dealt with at a local
  level.

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The Witch Trials

• The early trials began in the 15th and early 16th
  centuries, before peaking in the 17th century.

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The Scottish Witch Trials

• During 1661 to 1662 Scotland held one of the
  largest witch hunts in European history, in which
  an estimated 600 people were accused of
  witchcraft or ritually summoning the devil.
• How many were executed in the 16 month period is
  unknown. With the exception of the witch-hunt of
  1597, there had never previously been so many
  people convicted of witchcraft.

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Gender

• Almost everywhere women were accused and executed
  more than men, with 80 of those accused and 85
  of those executed in Europe being women.
• The sentence was generally death as Exodus 2219
  states, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live".
• There were other sentences, the most common to be
  chained for years to the oars of a ship, or
  excommunicated then imprisoned.

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The most common death sentence was to be burnt at
the stake.
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• The frequent use of 'swimming' to test
  innocence/guilt means that an unknown number also
  drowned more or less accidentally prior to
  conviction.

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Capital Punishment in the UK and our more recent
History

• 1808 Samuel Romilly introduced reforms to
  abolish CP for crimes.
• 1832-34 CP is abolished for shop lifting.
• 1861 CP as a punishment is reduced to only a few
  crimes.

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The 1957 Homicide Act

• This restricted CP as a sentence for murder in
  these 5 conditions only
• In the course of theft.
• By shooting or causing an explosion.
• While resisting arrest or when trying to escape.
• Of a police/prison officer.
• On a repeated basis (2 murders on different
  occasions).

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CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ABOLISHED

• The last executions in Britain were of two men on
  August 13th 1964 (1963 in Scotland).
• Both Peter Anthony Allen (21) and Gwynne Owen
  Evans (24) were hung in Manchester.
• They were convicted with the murder of John Alan
  West while robbing his house on April 7th 1964.

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CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ABOLISHED

• Another vote in 1969 finally made the abolition
  of the death penalty for murder permanent in the
  UK (a further vote in 1973 abolished it
  permanently in Northern Ireland).

Parliament then voted to abolish the death
penalty for murder for a five-year experiment in
1965.
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Bring it back?

• In February 1994, a majority of 197 votes
  defeated a proposal to reintroduce the death
  penalty for the murder of a police officer on
  duty.

There have been at least 13 attempts to bring
back hanging for various categories of murder
since 1969. All have failed.
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• Since the abolishing of capital punishment for
  murder, the death sentence had remained in force
  for treason and piracy with violence.
• The use of capital punishment in these two
  instances was abolished in 1998 under the Crime
  and Disorder Act.

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• On 27 January 1999, the UK Home Secretary (The
  Labour MP Jack Straw) signed the 6th protocol of
  the European Convention of Human Rights in
  Strasbourg.
• This move formally abolished the death penalty in
  the UK.

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Types of exam question

• Describe the important events leading up to the
  abolition of Capital Punishment in the United
  Kingdom.
• (5)KU

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Questions
Capital Punishment is still legal in the united
states of America Describe in detail two methods
of execution used in America. (4) KU
Capital punishment is no longer carried out in
the UK. It is, however, still used in other
countries. Name three countries that still use
capital punishment and describe the methods used
in each of the chosen countries
(4) KU
http//www.religioustolerance.org/execut3.htm
Describe the important events leading up to the
abolition of Capital Punishment in the United
kingdom. (4)KU