INDEX

Do black jurors view a crime or its appropriate punishment differently than their white counterparts? Are their perspectives influenced by the race of the defendant or victim? Are blacks on white-dominated capital juries intimidated or coerced into voting for the death penalty?

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Networks,

It turns out that voir dire in capital cases is woefully ineffective at the most elementary task—weeding out unqualified jurors.Empirical evidence reveals that many capital jurors are in fact unqualified to serve. Moreover, the ineffectiveness of the process is far from even-handed. A juror is not “death-qualified” if she would always vote against a death sentence, regardless of the circumstances, and a handful of the jurors who actually serve in capital cases are in fact unqualified for this reason.

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Networks,

Questions regarding the jury’s inability to reach a unanimous decision are often asked of judges and similar uninformative responses are generally given. Is ignoringjuror concerns the proper method for handling jury inquiries about the result of juror non-unanimity in capital sentencing? Or should courts inform capital juries up-front of the consequences of their failure to reach a unanimous verdict?

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Networks,

One of the largely unique aspects of the American jury system is that it confers upon the parties the unilateral power – in the form of peremptory challenges – to remove prospective jurors for any non-racial or non-gender-based reason. This article presents an overview of the literature on peremptory challenges, and an empirical analysis of their use in Philadelphia capital cases in the 1980s and 1990s.

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Fair Trial,

Until the landmark decision of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal in Hufhes and Spense v The Queen, the convetional wisdom was that the mandatory imposition of the death penalty could not be challenged in Commonwealth Caribbean countries as unconstitutional and that, in any event, the savings clauses contained in the constitutions would prevent any such challenge. As a consequence, the constitutional courts in the Commonwealth Caribbean are now being asked to consider a number of specific issues in relation to the mandatory death penalty: first, whether it is constitutional; and second, whether any chanllenges to the mandatory death penalty are barred by the savings clauses found to a varying degree, within each Caribbean constitution of and implications for global and regional developments are highly significant.

• Document type Article
• Themes list Mandatory Death Penalty,

The present, sixth quinquennial report contains a review of the trends in the application of the death penalty, including the implementation of the safeguards, during the period l994-2000. It is a revised, updated version of the report of the Secretary-General on the subject (E/2000/3) that was submitted to the Council at its substantive session of 2000, to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its ninth session and to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-sixth session. Sixty-three countries participated in the survey. There was again a relatively poor response from retentionist countries, especially those making the most use of capital punishment. One major conclusion to be drawn is that, since l994, the rate at which countries have embraced abolition has remained unchanged.

• Document type United Nations report
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
• Available languages Смертная казнь и применение мер, гарантирующих защиту прав тех, кому грозит смертная казнь : Доклад Генерального секретаряعقوبة الإعدام وتنفيذ الضمانات التي تكفل حماية حقوق الذين يواجهون عقوبة الإعدام : م ذكّرة من الأمين العامLa pena capital y la aplicación de las salvaguardias para garantizar la protección de los derechos de los condenados a la pena de muerte: Informe del Secretario General死刑和保护死刑犯权利的保障措施的执行情况: 秘书长的报告Peine capitale et application des garanties pour la protection des droits des personnes passibles de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire général

The report shows an encouraging trend towards abolition and restriction of the use of capital punishment in most countries. It also shows that much remains to be done in the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of persons facing the death penalty in those countries that retain it.

• Document type United Nations report
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
• Available languages La pena capital y la aplicación de las salvaguardias para garantizar la protección de los derechos de los condenados a la pena de muerte : Informe del Secretario GeneralLa pena capital y la aplicación de las salvaguardias para garantizar la protección de los derechos de los condenados a la pena de muerte : Informe del Secretario GeneralСмертная казнь и применение мер, гарантирующих защиту прав тех, кому грозит смертная казнь : Доклад Генерального секретаряعقوبة الإعدام وتنفيذ الضمانات التي تكفل حماية حقوق الذين يواجهون عقوبة الإعدام : م ذكّرة من الأمين العامСмертная казнь и осуществление мер, гарантирующих защиту прав тех, кто приговорен к смертной казни: Доклад Генерального секретаряCapital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-Generalعقوبة الإعدام وتنفيذ الضمانات التي تكفل حقوق ال ذين يواجهون عقوبة الإعدام :تقرير الأمين العام死刑和保护死刑犯权利的保障措施的执行情况: 秘书长的报告死刑和保护死刑犯权利的保障措施的执行情况: 秘书长的报告Peine capitale et application des garanties pour la protection des droits des personnes passibles de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire généralPeine capitale et application des garanties pour la protection des droits des personnes passibles de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire général

One major goal of these recommendations is to create additional safeguards against the endemic tendency of decision-makers in the criminal justice system to “pass the buck.” The system is far too lax in catching errors and injustices in part because many of those who might catch these errors and injustices do not fully understand their own duty to ensure that a death sentence is the appropriate punishment. Several of these recommendations are addressed to those who occupy critical roles in the capital punishment system, including the defense attorney, the prosecutor, the jury, the trial judge, and the reviewing courts. They emphasize that each, individually, has the responsibility to ensure, to the best of his or her ability, that justice is done.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Networks,

The ACLU conducted an analysis of court rulings in the 25 Washington cases in which the death sentence has been imposed since 1981, when the current death penalty statute took effect. That analysis of almost two decades of death sentences and executions makes it clear that the system by which we impose and review death sentences in Washington is fundamentally flawed.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Networks,

Twenty-five U.S. states still permit the execution of offenders with mental retardation and should pass laws to ban the practice without delay. The United States appears to be the only democracy whose laws expressly permit the execution of persons with this severe mental disability.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Intellectual Disability,