DEATH PENALTY

DEATH PENALTY


Q-1. WHAT IS DEATH PENALTY?

A—As per Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment

“Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the killing of a person by judicial process for retribution and incapacitation. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" (Latin caput). Hence, a capital crime was originally one punished by the severing of the head.”


Q-2. WHAT ARE THE ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST DEATH PENALTY?


SUPPORTING IT:

a--It deters crime;

b—It prevents recidivism (recidivism = the tendency in a criminal to continue doing the crime even after the punishment has been given.);

c—It is less expensive than life imprisonment;

d-- It is the appropriate form of punishment for some crimes;

e-- None has the right to take away what one cannot give.


AGAINST IT:

a--It has led to the execution of wrongfully convicted. “Newly-available DNA evidence has allowed the exoneration of more than 15 death row inmates since 1992 in the U.S., but DNA evidence is only available in a fraction of capital cases”—Wikipedia;

b-- It discriminates against minorities and the poor;


c-- It does not deter criminals more than life imprisonment. Comparative studies in USA where crime statistics were compared between states with and without death penalty failed to reveal significant difference;


d-- It encourages a "culture of violence";

e-- It is more expensive than life imprisonment;

f-- It violates human rights;

g-- It may lead to perverse incentives and moral hazards. (For example, the appointment of a judge by the government may depend upon his views about death penalty in general; Allotting a case to a particular judge may depend upon whether he is likely to award capital punishment to the accused, as in the case of Saddam trial; Courts may be induced to sway to public opinion in a high profile case; a judge who has towed the government line for awarding death sentence may be rewarded with promotion or other favours.


CURRENT VIEW-- From the 1970s onward, the deterrence hypothesis in favour of death penalty has been generally rejected by a consensus of justice policy researchers and academics.



Q-3. IS IT LEGAL IN ALL COUNTRIES?

A—No. A large number of countries have abolished death penalty. For example, by virtue of Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, it has been abolished in the European Union. However, more than 60% of the worldwide population live in countries where it is still legal. It is legally valid in some countries with large populations, namely, the People's Republic of China, India, United States and Indonesia. In India, death penalty has been retained after the Supreme Court ruled about
its legality, though it is to be given in the rare of the rarest cases.

According to Wikipedia:

“In 1977, 16 countries were abolitionist. As of February 1, 2009 93 countries had abolished capital punishment, 9 had done so for all offences except under special circumstances, and 36 had not used it for at least 10 years or under a moratorium. Fifty-nine actively retained the death penalty.”

“In 2007 the largest number of verifiable executions were carried out in the six countries listed below (with the exception of the US, the figures are believed to be under-estimates):
China 470+ (other sources est. 5,000)
Iran 317+
Saudi Arabia 143+
Pakistan 135+
USA 42
Iraq 33+”



Q-4. WHAT ARE THE MODES OF IMPLEMENTATION?

A—There are various modes. In India, the law provides that, as per Section 354(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, a person condemned to death shall be hanged by the neck till he is dead. The Supreme Court of India has looked into the constitutionality of section 354(5). While doing so, it referred to the findings of the British Royal Commission's report on various methods of capital punishment and approved the method in vogue in India, i.e., hanging till dead.



Q-5. WHAT WAS THE REPORT OF THE BRITISH ROYAL COMMISSION?

A-- The British Royal Commission on Capital Punishment”, established in 1949, looked into the following 5 methods of capital punishment in various countries:

A. Electrocution: In 23 states of USA;

B. Guillotine: In France and Belgium;

C. Hanging: In England, Scotland, Commonwealth countries and 10 states of
USA;

D. Lethal gas: In 8 states of USA;

E. Shooting: In the state of Utah in US and in almost all countries when
ordained by Court Martial.

It was concluded that hanging is the most certain and painless method. It
is added that injecting a lethal dose of chemicals, as in Mc Veigh case, is
to be condemned because it compels a doctor to act in violation of
Hippocratic Oath.


M C Gupta
12 March 2009