Capital punishment

Not to be confused with Corporal punishment.
Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Death penalty (disambiguation), Death sentence (disambiguation), Execution (disambiguation), and Capital punishment (disambiguation).
"Capital case" redirects here. For the written representation of some languages, see Uppercase.

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Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide,[1][2] is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct.[3] The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital (lit. 'of the head', derived via the Latin capitalis from caput, "head") refers to execution by beheading,[4] but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.

Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes, capital offences, or capital felonies, and vary depending on the jurisdiction, but commonly include serious crimes against a person, such as murder, assassination, mass murder, child murder, aggravated rape, terrorism, aircraft hijacking, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, along with crimes against the state such as attempting to overthrow government, treason, espionage, sedition, and piracy. Also, in some cases, acts of recidivism, aggravated robbery, and kidnapping, in addition to drug trafficking, drug dealing, and drug possession, are capital crimes or enhancements. However, states have also imposed punitive executions, for an expansive range of conduct, for political or religious beliefs and practices, for a status beyond one's control, or without employing any significant due process procedures.[3] Judicial murder is the intentional and premeditated killing of an innocent person by means of capital punishment.[5] For example, the executions following the show trials in the Soviet Union during the Great Purge of 1936–1938 were an instrument of political repression.

The top 3 countries by the number of executions are China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.[6] As of 2021, 56 countries retain capital punishment, 111 countries have completely abolished it de jure for all crimes, seven have abolished it for ordinary crimes (while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 24 are abolitionist in practice.[7] Although the majority of countries have abolished capital punishment, over half of the world's population live in countries where the death penalty is retained, including India, the U.S., Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and DR Congo. As of 2023, only 2 out of 38 OECD member countries (the United States and Japan) allow capital punishment.[8]

Capital punishment is controversial, with many people, organisations, and religious groups holding differing views on whether it is ethically permissible. Amnesty International declares that the death penalty breaches human rights, specifically "the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."[9] These rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948.[9] In the European Union (EU), Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment.[10] The Council of Europe, which has 46 member states, has worked to end the death penalty and no execution has taken place in its current member states since 1997. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, throughout the years from 2007 to 2020,[11] eight non-binding resolutions calling for a global moratorium on executions, with support for eventual abolition.[12]

  1. ^ Shipley, Maynard (1906). "The Abolition of Capital Punishment in Italy and San Marino". American Law Review. 40 (2): 240–251 – via HeinOnline.
  2. ^ Grann, David (2018). Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. Vintage Books. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-307-74248-3. OCLC 993996600.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference iep.utm.edu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Kronenwetter 2001, p. 202
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fowler was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Death Penalty". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Death Penalty 2021: Facts and Figures". Amnesty International. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Why Japan retains the death penalty". The Economist. 26 April 2022. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b Das, J.K. (2022). Human rights law and practice (2nd ed.). PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 192. ISBN 978-81-951611-6-4. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union" (PDF). European Union. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  11. ^ A Record 120 Nations Adopt UN Death-Penalty Moratorium Resolution, 18 December 2018, Death Penalty Information Center
  12. ^ "moratorium on the death penalty". United Nations. 15 November 2007. Archived from the original on 27 January 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2010.