Capital Punishment

One of the most debated issues in the Criminal Justice System is whether Capital Punishment should be abolish or kept as a way of deterrence. One argument is that the justice system is hypocritical in how it portrays the death penalty. It also promotes killing as an okay solution to a difficult problem. Capital Punishment is not unnecessary as there are other alternative such as life imprisonment without patrol. The death penalty doesn’t prevent others from committing a crime and no reliable study shows the death penalty doesn’t deter others, therefore the death penalty should be abolish.

The death penalty also known as Capital Punishment is the punishment of death by the state which is awarded for those who commit a heinous act. The death penalty violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2012). There are various method utilise to enforce the death penalty. The most widely used Western techniques are lethal injections, hanging and electrocution but there are some parts of the world that still use stoning, beheading and shooting. Crimes that carry the death penalty have been largely reserved for only the serious crimes such as murder and treason. In fact, there are still many countries that continue to use Capital Punishment but during the 20th century the use of legality of death sentences has been declining. Over 50 countries in the world have the death penalties with one of them being the world’s largest executors, China. Crimes in China that are associated with the death penalty are corruption, embezzling, drug related crimes and theft on a large scale. Capital Punishment is common around the Asia-Pacific with Singapore conducting hangings. The lethal injection is utilise in the U.S.A in 34 states, and also parts of Europe and Africa. Furthermore, there are coupes of organisations that are against the death penalty, one being the Amnesty International. Arguing against capital punishment, Amnesty International believes that ‘the death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold blooded killing if a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to life and it is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. There can never be any justification for torture or for cruel treatment.’ With this said, not only is capital punishment cruel but studies have shown that capital punishment doesn’t deter crimes and every executions costs millions.

The death penalty acts as a way of deterring criminals from reoffending but statistics show that capital punishment doesn’t deter crime and has no beneficial effect on murder rates. According to the United Nations Development (2012) the five countries with the highest homicide rates that do not impose the death penalty average 21.6 murders per 100,000 people whereas, the five countries with the