CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment

Introduction

The Capital Punishment or capital punishment is a penalty under the law of executing a person who was recognized guilty of misconduct described as a capital crime. The sentence is pronounced by the judicial institution at the end of a trial. In the absence of a trial, or where it is not done by a recognized institution, we speak of summary executions, acts of revenge or of private justice. The Capital Punishment is regarded variously at different times and geographic regions. Originally just increased exponentially throughout the world, it was discredited at the time of the Enlightenment. Declined sharply in the second half of the twentieth century, it is currently in limbo.

It is foreseen in the legislation of almost one hundred countries, but only twenty-one countries carried out executions in 2010. It is recognized that a sanction disapproved by international institutions like the United Nations (UN). Abolitionist states are now in the majority, but they still represent a minority of the world's population. Globally, the 18 December 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 62/149 calling for a moratorium on executions. This resolution (like other UN resolutions) has no binding but can be seen as a sign that the majority of states wishes to question the Capital Punishment. However eight of the ten most populous countries voted against.

The Capital Punishment is one of the first criminal penalties. It is found in legal texts as the oldest in the Code of Hammurabi. It is the keystone to the repressive systems eighteenth century and remains a common law until the early nineteenth century where the abolitionist movement began to grow. Traces of legal texts on the Capital Punishment have been found in many civilizations throughout history. The Mesopotamians, the ancient Greeks, Romans and medieval men were applying the Capital Punishment. Penalty universally recognized and applied, it is from the nineteenth century that we begin to attend the questioning, then the abolition of this punishment in most countries. Twenty-first century, the Capital Punishment persists in many countries and is still a lot of support.

Discussion

Historians agree on the cause of the Capital Punishment. This is the punishment of the group over an individual who does not respect the rules of community life. Its original role is mainly deterrence and put out of harm's way, this at a time when the prison system is hardly developed. The Capital Punishment is a criminal penalty (Williams, 2000). The accused is sentenced for failure to comply with a rule of law which he was convinced. This penalty stems from the need to organize the group. Before the birth of law and justice institution- we can not talk about Capital Punishment. In these primitive societies or current, not knowing the rule of law, a death sentence may be considered at best a summary execution or simply as an act of revenge or of private justice. We can therefore consider that the origin of the Capital Punishment is the construction of the state ...