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Document(s)

Resolution 65/206 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty

By United Nations General Assembly, on 8 September 2020


2020

International law - United Nations

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More details See the document

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/65/456/Add.2 (Part II))] 65/206. Moratorium on the use of the death penalty

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area – Background Paper 2010

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 8 September 2020


NGO report

Albania

ru
More details See the document

This paper updates The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2009.It is intended to provide a concise update to highlight changes in the status of thedeath penalty in OSCE participating States since the previous publication and topromote constructive discussion of this issue. It covers the period from 1 July 2009to 30 June 2010. —– To find past OSCE papers please visit: http://www.osce.org/documents?keys=The+Death+Penalty+in+the+OSCE+Area+-+Background+Paper+

Document(s)

Question of the death penalty : Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 8 September 2020


United Nations report

arruzh-hantesfr
More details See the document

The present report contains information covering the period from June 2008 to July 2009, and draws attention to a number of phenomena, including the continuing trend towards abolition, the practice of engaging in a national debate on the death penalty, and the ongoing difficulties in gaining access to reliable information on executions.

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak – MISSION TO CHINA

By United Nations / Manfred Nowak, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

China

frzh-hantesarru
More details See the document

The Special Rapporteur also observes positive developments at the legislative level, including the planned reform of several laws relevant to the criminal procedure, which he hopes will bring Chinese legislation into greater conformity with international norms, particularly the fair trial standards contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which China signed in 1998 and is preparing to ratify. He also welcomes the resumption by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of its authority to review all death penalty cases,59 particularly given the fact that the quality of the judiciary increases as one ascends the hierarchy. The Special Rapporteur suggests that China might use the opportunity of this important event to increase transparency regarding the number of death sentences in the country, as well as to consider legislation that would allow direct petitioning to the SPC in cases where individuals do not feel that they were provided with adequate relief by lower courts in cases involving the useof torture, access to counsel, etc.

Document(s)

AEDPA Repeal

By Brandon L. Garrett & Kaitlin Phillips, on 1 September 2022


2022

Academic report

Terrorism

United States


More details See the document

Given how pressing the problem has become, and the real interest in reforms to promote access to justice, this article takes a different tack than prior habeas reform work: to restore habeas corpus to its pre-AEDPA and pre-Rehnquist court state, in which a federal court can review claims and reach their merits. The approach would preserve flexibility at the district court level and remove the many layers of procedural complexity that the Supreme Court and then Congress have erected. We believe that deep changes are needed, and in that, we agree with judges and scholars that have for some time proposed such changes in the writ. As we describe, AEDPA was enacted as a culmination of more than two decades of complex Supreme Court law that had already limited access to federal habeas corpus. While AEDPA incorporated some of those procedural rulings, the concern would be that should AEDPA be repealed, even in part, those court-made restrictions could be interpreted to supplant AEDPA restrictions. Clear statutory language will be needed to ensure that the Court does not frustrate Congress, as it has in the past, by supplementing statutory text in order to limit constitutional remedies. We do not mean to suggest that the various proposals set out here are exhaustive. Our goal is to promote careful considerations of alternatives to the present-day set of federal habeas corpus statutes and accompanying judicial interpretation.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Terrorism

Document(s)

(Not) Talking about Capital Punishment in the Xi Jinping Era

By Tobias Smith, Matthew Robertson and Susan Trevaskes, on 1 September 2022


Academic report

China


More details See the document

An investigation into the death penalty in the People’s Republic of China in the Xi Jinping era (2012–) shows that unlike previous administrations, Xi does not appear to have articulated a signature death penalty policy. Where policy in China is unclear, assessing both the quality and frequency of discourse on the topic can provide evidence regarding an administration’s priorities.
This article was first published in Crime Justice Journal: https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/issue/view/119

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list China

Document(s)

Legislative Expansion and Judicial Confusion: Uncertain Trajectories of the Death Penalty in India

By Anup Surendranath and Maulshree Pathak, on 1 September 2022


Academic report

India


More details See the document

The numbers and the politics of the death penalty in India tell very different stories, presenting complicated narratives for its future. The public reaction to instances of sexual violence and other offences over the last decade and the consequent political response has significantly strengthened the retention and expansion of the death penalty. This is reflected from the fact that that of all the death sentences that district courts impose, only about 5 percent get confirmed in India’s appellate system. However, does this mean there is growing scepticism about the death penalty in the Supreme Court of India? Unfortunately, the answer is far from simple. An assessment of the death penalty in India’s appellate courts during the last decade will demonstrate that a crime-centric approach has hindered any principled discomfort with the death penalty or the manner of its administration. In particular, the Supreme Court has faltered in high-profile death sentence cases (i.e., offences against the state and sexual violence cases), and its track record of commutations has very little to do with principled considerations on sentencing. This paper argues that the political and judicial imagination of the death penalty, as a necessary part of the response to crime, creates significant and unique challenges for the path towards abolition.
This article was first published in Crime Justice Journal: https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/issue/view/119

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list India

Document(s)

Q&A: The Death Penalty and Drug Offenses

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 143 Ko ]

This Q&A was prepared by Harm Reduction International (www.ihra.net), the International Drug PolicyConsortium (www.idpc.net) and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (www.worldcoalition.org) aheadof World Day against the Death Penalty on 10 October 2015.

Document(s)

Testimonies tool – World Day 2022

By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 28 June 2022


2022

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 764 Ko ]

The World Coalition and its members have collected testimonies of victims of torture in the death penalty. Confessions, death row phenomenon, moments before the execution, psychological torture of those not sentenced to death, methods of execution. Read the stories of these victims.
We thank all those who agreed to share their testimonies and their stories.

Document(s)

Malaysia: On Death Row

By Al Jazeera, on 1 January 2019


2019

Multimedia content

Malaysia


More details See the document

In Malaysian jails, more than 1,200 prisoners are on death row. For them, news that the government was planning to abolish the death penalty provided a much-needed glimmer of hope. But many Malaysians want to keep the law as it is, saying capital punishment deters criminals and helps keep citizens safe. Families of murder victims say the only way to get justice for their loved ones is by hanging the perpetrators. 101 East meets the people on either side of this emotional life-and-death debate and investigates if Malaysia is ready to abolish the death penalty.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list Malaysia
  • Themes list Moratorium , Murder Victims' Families, Death Row Phenomenon,

Document(s)

Death penalty in Iran: A State terror policy – Special Update for 11th World Day against the Death Penalty

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

fa
More details See the document

The change of administration in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and taking of office by a new president on 3 August 2013 has not brought any change as far as the death penalty is concerned. Between the 14 June presidential election and 1st October, more than 200 people have been reportedly executed, including possibly three people who may have been younger than 18 at the time of the commission of the alleged crimes.Against this backdrop, FIDH and its member organisation, LDDHI, have decided topublish the present report to analyse the new penal laws in force in Iran that are invoked consistently to violate the right to life in general and to execute child offenders. Coinciding with 10 October 2013, World Day against the Death Penalty, this report aimsto serve as an update on the current state of application of the death penalty in the IRI.

Document(s)

Experimenting with Death: An Examination of Colorado’s Use of the Three-Judge Panel in Capital Sentencing

By Lutz, Robin / University of Colorado Law Review, on 1 January 2002


2002

Article

United States


More details See the document

Mr. Page committed an atrocious crime. He did not know his victim, Peyton Tuthill, a young woman who had recently graduated from college and moved to Denver. But he was in her house, looking for money and items to sell, when she returned from a job interview. Instead of leaving her home, Mr. Page stayed to beat Peyton Tuthill, tie her up, stab her, slit her throat, rape her repeatedly, and eventually, kill her. Clearly, Ms. Tuthill did not deserve to die such a tortured death. Clearly, her death resulted from an egregious crime. However, the answer to the question of whether Mr. Page should be executed for committing this murder is not as clear. Some would answer affirmatively, others negatively. An important question is: who should decide?

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

Document(s)

Singapore’s death penalty for drug trafficking: What the research says and doesn’t

By Academia SG - Promoting Scorlorahsip Of/For/By Singapore, on 24 January 2024


2024

Academic report

Drug Offenses

Singapore


More details See the document

Published on October 7, 2023.

Of all retentionist countries, Singapore seems to be the most vocal about the need to execute individuals as a form of criminal punishment. MAI SATO (Monash University) reviews studies conducted or commissioned by Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs that claim public backing for and the effectiveness of the death penalty in managing drug trafficking. Sato finds that these studies provide far weaker evidence for using the death penalty for drug trafficking than their authors and officials citing them claim.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list Singapore
  • Themes list Drug Offenses

Document(s)

Key legal Instruments and texts adopted on Abolition of the death penalty by the Council of Europe

By Council of Europe, on 24 January 2023


2023

Regional body report

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details See the document

All the Council of Europe documents related to abolition of the death penalty gathered in one page : decisions of the Committee of Ministers, resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly, Treaties…

Document(s)

International Views on the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2011


2011

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

The vast majority of countries in Western Europe, North America and South America – more than 139 nations worldwide – have abandoned capital punishment in law or in practice. This document goes through the death penalty status of countries world wide.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Inadequete Legal Representation

By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020


2020

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

Perhaps the most important factor in determining whether a defendant will receive the death penalty is the quality of the representation he or she is provided. Almost all defendants in capital cases cannot afford their own attorneys. In many cases, the appointed attorneys are overworked, underpaid, or lacking the trial experience required for death penalty cases.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Racial Disparities

By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2009


2009

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

The race of the victim and the race of the defendant in capital cases are major factors in determining who is sentenced to die in this country. In 1990 a report from the General Accounting Office concluded that “in 82 percent of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e. those who murdered whites were more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Discrimination,

Document(s)

USA: Death in Florida

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2017


2017

Academic report


More details See the document

In March 2017, Rick Scott, Governor of Florida, responded to a State Attorney’s decision not to pursue the death penalty because of its demonstrable flaws by ordering her replacement with a prosecutor willing to engage in this lethal pursuit. Since then the governor has transferred 27 capital murder cases to his preferred prosecutor. Two of these cases have already resulted in juries voting for death sentences.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Fair Trial, Legal Representation, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Deterrence

By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020


2020

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

Scientific studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crime anymore than long prison sentences.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Deterrence ,

Document(s)

Justice Advocates Project

By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2012


2012

Multimedia content


More details See the document

The Death Penalty Focus Justice Advocates Project empowers people with firsthand experience of the death penalty system to become advocates for fairness and justice by telling their personal stories to the public. Justice Advocates include the wrongfully convicted and law enforcement professionals, who bring their varied experiences of the flaws and dangers of the death penalty system to the public discourse

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Innocence and the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2011


2011

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 139 men and women have been released from death row nationally.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Alternatives to the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Focus / Alternatives to the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2008


2008

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

In every state that retains the death penalty, jurors have the option of sentencing convicted capital murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence is cheaper to tax-payers and keeps violent offenders off the streets for good. The information is California specific.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Sentencing Alternatives,

Document(s)

Death Penalty Can Prolong the Suffering of a Vicitm’s Family

By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

United States


More details See the document

Many family members who have lost loved ones to murder feel that the death penalty will not heal their wounds nor will it end their pain. This webpage provides resources for those looking to connect with murder victims’ families organisations.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

The High Cost of the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020


Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

A fact sheet on the cost of the death penalty in the United States. Life emprisonment without parole is suggested.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Transparency, Death Penalty, Financial cost,

Document(s)

Strengthening death penalty standards

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

Where the death penalty is applied, international law, jurisprudence and practice require that certain minimum standards are applied. The standards include international and regional treaties that are legally binding on states that have ratified them, customary international law that is binding on all states without exception, and non-binding standards and resolutions that nonetheless command the support of the majority of states. International understanding of these minimum standards has continued to evolve in the years since they were drafted, but the documents themselves do not always keep pace. This paper brings together international, regional and national standards, the most recent understandings of relevant experts and appropriate insights from other connected disciplines. It explores possible ways in which international minimum standards could be further strengthened at this time, whether through ECOSOC, the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, regional bodies or national amendments to laws and policies. In each section, the issue and current practice is described, followed by examples of good practice or suggestions for improvement, finishing with a short list of recommendations for strengthening existing standards. These issues and recommendations are not final, but are intended to provide a point from which discussion can begin.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list International law, Legal Representation,

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2003

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide situation concerning the death penalty has once again registered a trend towards abolition in the past year. The countries or territories that to different extents have decided to give up the practice of capital punishment total 133, including the first months of 2004. Of these 81 have abolished the death penalty completely; 14 have abolished it for ordinary crimes; 1, Russia, as a member of the Council of Europe is committed to abolish it and in the meanwhile apply a moratorium on executions; 5 are observing moratoriums and 32 countries are de facto abolitionist, not having carried out executions for at least 10 years.

Document(s)

The war on drugs, forensic science and the death penalty in the Philippines

By Maria Corazon A.De Ungria and Jose M.Jose, on 10 August 2021


2021

Academic report

Drug Offenses

Philippines


More details See the document

The effectiveness of the death penalty to deter heinous crimes remains a contentious issue even though it has been abolished in many countries. Three years into President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, the push to re-impose the death penalty is being taken seriously.

There is urgency in providing options to the drug problem other than killing drug suspects in the streets or sentencing them to death. The drug problem is a complex issue and exposes the human vulnerability of its users for criminal exploitation.

We propose here that addressing these vulnerabilities in a balanced and comprehensive manner through health-focused, rights-based criminal justice responses, conducting forensic science-based drug investigations and determining the social causes of drug abuse is an alternative solution that demands cooperation across different sectors of society as well as underscores the fundamental value of human life.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list Philippines
  • Themes list Drug Offenses

Document(s)

WMA Resolution to Reaffirm the WMA’s Prohibition of Physician Partecipation in Capital Punishment

By World Medical Association, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report


More details See the document

The World Medical Association has strengthened its opposition to capital punishment with a resolution at its recent conference in Bangkok that “physicians will not facilitate the importation or prescription of drugs for execution.”

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Document(s)

Foreign Nationals and the Death Penalty in the US

By Death Penalty Information Center / Mark Warren, on 1 January 2013


2013

Article

United States


More details See the document

New information on foreign nationals facing the death penalty in the U.S. is now available through Mark Warren of Human Rights Research. This DPIC page includes information on 143 foreign citizens from 37 countries on state and federal death rows.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides

By Who Decides, Inc., on 1 January 2012


2012

Working with...


More details See the document

The objective of this initiative was to use “the product of art” as a vehicle to educate common people about the history and practice of capital punishment in America and to lift societies consciousness around the idea of endowing a National Death Penalty Museum to preserve its deep history.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Public debate,

Document(s)

Death Penalty and Innocence

By Amnesty International - USA, on 8 September 2020


2020

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This webpage talks about innocence and the death penalty: Examples of innocence in three cases in the United States and factors leading to wrongful conviction.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

So Long as They Die: Lethal Injections in the United States

By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2006


2006

NGO report


More details See the document

This 65-page report reveals the slipshod history of executions by lethal injection, using a protocol created three decades ago with no scientific research, nor modern adaptation, and still unchanged today. As the prisoner lies strapped to a gurney, a series of three drugs is injected into his vein by executioners hidden behind a wall. A massive dose of sodium thiopental, an anesthetic, is injected first, followed by pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes voluntary muscles, but leaves the prisoner fully conscious and able to experience pain. A third drug, potassium chloride, quickly causes cardiac arrest, but the drug is so painful that veterinarian guidelines prohibit its use unless a veterinarian first ensures that the pet to be put down is deeply unconscious. No such precaution is taken for prisoners being executed.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Lethal Injection,

Document(s)

Death Penalty and Race

By Amnesty International - USA, on 8 September 2020


2020

Arguments against the death penalty

es
More details See the document

From initial charging decisions to plea bargaining to jury sentencing, African-Americans are treated more harshly when they are defendants, and their lives are accorded less value when they are victims.

Document(s)

The Last Holdouts: Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yeman

By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2008


2008

NGO report

ar
More details See the document

In this 20-page report, Human Rights Watch documents failures in law and practice that since January 2005 have resulted in 32 executions of juvenile offenders in five countries: Iran (26), Saudi Arabia (2), Sudan (2), Pakistan (1), and Yemen (1). The report also highlights cases of individuals recently executed or facing execution in the five countries, where well over 100 juvenile offenders are currently on death row, awaiting the outcome of a judicial appeal, or in some murder cases, the outcome of negotiations for pardons in exchange for financial compensation

Document(s)

Death Penalty Trends

By Amnesty International - USA, on 1 January 2013


2013

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This sheet speaks about the trend towards abolition of the death penalty, aswell as declining public support for it.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty In Egypt: Theoretical and Practical Study in the Light of Islamic Shariah and International Human Rights Law

By Dr. Mohamed Al Ghamry / Arab Penal Reform Organization APRO, on 1 January 2008


2008

NGO report

ar
More details See the document

This study addresses the subject of the “death Penalty in Egypt”, which is an applied theoretical study done in light of the principles of the Islamic law and provisions concerning international human rights law. Egyptian Penal Code No. 58/1937 is the modern penal code that still retains the death penalty in spite of its cruelty and strictness and impossibility of reforming its results or amending them. The laws governing the death penalty in Egypt are considered one of the most deterrent penalties at all levels, general and private, that ensures combating crimes and preserving the interests of society, as well as ensuring stability in spite of the presence of an increasing international inclination led by the United Nations and some international NGOs headed by Amnesty International to abolish the Death Penalty given the difficulty to reconcile between this penalty and obligation to respecting human rights.There is no doubt that the intention to study the legislative system of the death penalty in Egypt, with the purpose of the determination of legality of this penalty and the demonstration of the feasibility of its application for society, is difficult without identifying all the roles and functions caused by the death penalty over successive legal ages in Egypt. When the criminal legislator passes new laws that address crimes in Egypt, in his appreciation, to achieve deterrence and for the purpose of combating crime, the legislator does nothing new in society. The work of the legislature work is a product of an interaction between the proposed legislative articles to solve the realistic problems from which society suffers in a historical moment on the one hand, and the cultural, social, religious, legal and political heritage coming to our society from abroad, may play a key role in the determination of the content of the proposed legislative text in the context of the mutual influence between cultures. In this context, this study begins by an introductory chapter entitled “The Historical Origins of the Death Penalty in Egypt” in which we tried to pin the Egyptian penal legislation to its origin by studying the position of death penalty and its evolution in society. By identifying the historical origin of the Death Penalty in Egypt, we then present an objective view on the future of death penalty in Egypt between retention and abolition. —- Please find document at bottom of web page.

Document(s)

Death Penalty and Arbitrariness

By Amnesty International - USA, on 8 September 2020


2020

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This sheet details the factors which contribute to the arbitrariness of the death penalty in the USA.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Arbitrariness,

Document(s)

Death Penalty Cost

By Amnesty International - USA, on 8 September 2020


Arguments against the death penalty

es
More details See the document

This factsheet deals with the cost of the death penalty in the United States using figures from a study conducted by the Californian Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice.

Document(s)

Religion and the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 8 September 2020


Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

In recent years, a growing number of religious organizations have participated in the nation’s death penalty debate. The purpose of this Web page is to provide access to information regarding the efforts of these faith groups and to highlight recent developments related to religion and the death penalty.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Religion ,

Document(s)

Caught in a Web Treatment of Pakistanis in the Saudi Criminal Justice System

By Human Rights Watch / Justice Project Pakistan, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

Pakistan


More details See the document

Report about the treatment of Pakistanis in the Saudi criminal justice system

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Pakistan
  • Themes list Discrimination, Foreign Nationals,

Document(s)

File: Saudi Arabia in the World Day against the Death Penalty, execution of Civil Society

By European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, on 1 January 2018


2018

Multimedia content

Saudi Arabia


More details See the document

Saudi Arabia uses the death penalty as an instrument against individuals, society and freedoms. It is used far away from any international laws and frameworks as it is applied sometimes on children. These practices have become an approach that includes numerous violations as well as denial of the right to life, such as arbitrary detention, torture and unfair trials. As the world revives the anti-death penalty day on October 10, the European Saudi organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) illuminates it through its figures, the issues it has documented and the campaigns it has led. Through the articles published ESOHR tries to show the usage of the death penalty by the Saudi government as a mean to achieve its goals and to impose silence.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list Saudi Arabia
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Death Penalty and Mental Illness

By Amnesty International - USA, on 1 January 2013


2013

Arguments against the death penalty

es
More details See the document

The execution of those with mental illness or “the insane” is clearly prohibited by international law. Virtually every country in the world prohibits the execution of people with mental illness. This webpage explores international law and the death penalty in relation to the USA.

Document(s)

Death Penalty and Deterrence

By Amnesty International - USA, on 8 September 2020


2020

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

An argument against deterrence is made by looking at a survey which found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Deterrence ,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty In 2018: Year End Report

By Death Penalty Information Center / Death Penalty Information Centre, on 1 January 2018


2018

NGO report


More details See the document

New death sentences and executions remained near historic lows in 2018 and a twentieth state abolished capital punishment, as public opinion polls, election results, legislative actions, and court decisions all reflected the continuing erosion of the death penalty across the country.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The death penalty in Egypt: Ten year after the uprising

By Jeed Basyouni - Reprieve, on 10 August 2021


2021

NGO report

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Death Row Conditions 

Egypt

Fair Trial


More details See the document

Reprieve wrote this report about the use of the death penalty in Egypt.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Egypt
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Death Row Conditions  / Fair Trial

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in 2020: Year-End Report

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2020


2020

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

2020 was abnormal in almost every way, and that was clearly the case when it came to capital punishment in the United States. The interplay of four forces shaped the U.S. death penalty landscape in 2020: the nation’s long-term trend away from capital punishment; the worst global pandemic in more than a century; nationwide protests for racial justice; and the historically aberrant conduct of the federal administration. At the end of the year, more states had abolished the death penalty or gone ten years without an execution, more counties had elected reform prosecutors who pledged never to seek the death penalty or to use it more sparingly; fewer new death sentences were imposed than in any prior year since the Supreme Court struck down U.S. death penalty laws in 1972; and despite a six-month spree of federal executions without parallel in the 20th or 21st centuries, fewer executions were carried out than in any year in nearly three decades.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Drug-related Offences, Criminal Justice Responses and the Use of the Death Penalty in South-East Asia

By Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on 1 January 2019


2019

International law - United Nations


More details See the document

Most of the world’s countries or territories have either abolished the death penalty or no longer use it. More than half of those that retain the death penalty, of which many are in South-East Asia, do so for drug-related offences. Most prisoners on death row in South-East Asia have been convicted of drug-related offences, although law and practice vary considerably among countries that retain the death penalty.

  • Document type International law - United Nations
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Statistics,

Document(s)

Anniversary tool – 20th World Day

By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 8 July 2022


2022

World Coalition

arfr
More details Download [ pdf - 1689 Ko ]

Anniversary tool for the 20th World Day Against the Death Penalty.
This tool traces 20 years of struggle for the abolition of the death penalty. Rediscover the different themes addressed and the achievements of the World Day.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2019

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2019


2019

International law - Regional body


More details See the document

Fifty-five (55) OSCE participating States have either completely abolished the death penalty or maintain moratoria on executions as an important first step towards abolition. However, in a global context where discussions focus on the threat of terrorism and a need to be tough on crime, it is perhaps not surprising that the question of reintroducing the death penalty surfaces at times, including in the OSCE region. It is, therefore, a good moment to reflect on the reasons why there is still support for the death penalty, considering the growing understanding that capital punishment is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Some of the most persistent arguments used to justify the use of the death penalty and its possible reintroduction will be discussed in the report.

  • Document type International law - Regional body
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Document(s)

The Court is Satisfied with the Confession: Bahrain Death Sentences Follow Torture, Sham Trials

By Human Rights Watch, on 10 October 2022


2022

Article

Bahrain

ar
More details See the document

In a February 2019 letter to the United Nations Office in Geneva, the government of Bahrain claimed that its courts “actually hand down very few death sentences.” In fact, since 2011, courts in Bahrain have sentenced 51 people to death, and the state has executed six since the end of a de facto moratorium on executions in 2017. As of June 2022, 26 men were on death row, and all have exhausted their appeals. Under Bahraini law, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has the power to ratify these sentences, commute them, or grant pardons.

Document(s)

The Rise, Fall, and Afterlife of the Death Penalty in the United States

By Carol S. Steiker / Annual Review of Law and Social Science, on 1 January 2020


2020

Article

United States


More details See the document

This review addresses four key issues in the modern (post-1976) era of capital punishment in the United States. First, why has the United States retained the death penalty when all its peer countries (all other developed Western democracies) have abolished it? Second, how should we understand the role of race in shaping the distinctive path of capital punishment in the United States, given our country’s history of race-based slavery and slavery’s intractable legacy of discrimination? Third, what is the significance of the sudden and profound withering of the practice of capital punishment in the past two decades? And, finally, what would abolition of the death penalty in the United States (should it ever occur) mean for the larger criminal justice system?

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Pathways to Justice: Implementing a Fair and Effective Remedy following Abolition of the Mandatory Death Penalty in Kenya

By The Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

This report draws on experiences in other jurisdictions where capital sentencing laws have been struck down or abolished, thereby generating the need for prisoners already unlawfully sentenced to death to be given substitute sentences. It delineates the ways in which other common law jurisdictions have addressed the practical and procedural challenges of resentencing following the abolition of the mandatory death penalty – navigating potential human rights infringements and ensuring that satisfactory requirements of due process are met. Resentencing procedures must also be scalable and practically accessible to the large number of individuals (thousands in the case of Kenya) entitled to relief.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mandatory Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

By United Nations, on 1 January 1966


1966

United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

Article 61. Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.2. In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present Covenant and to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court.3. When deprivation of life constitutes the crime of genocide, it is understood that nothing in this article shall authorize any State Party to the present Covenant to derogate in any way from any obligation assumed under the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.4. Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. Amnesty, pardon or commutation of the sentence of death may be granted in all cases.5. Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age and shall not be carried out on pregnant women.6. Nothing in this article shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the present Covenant.

Document(s)

Triggers for the abolition of the death penalty in Africa: a Southern African perspective

By Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH), on 1 January 2017


2017

NGO report

fr
More details See the document

In Africa, more than 80% of countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice, with only 10 countries executing within the past decade, said FIDH and DITSHWANELO in their joint study, “Triggers for the abolition of the death penalty in Africa: a Southern African perspective”.The 36 pages study identifies the triggers leading to the abolition of the death penalty in Africa. It was released simultaneously with a documentary called #Gambia has decided which shows the current abolitionist process experienced in The Gambia.

Document(s)

Life After the Death Penalty: Implications for Retentionnist States

By American Bar Association / Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2017


Multimedia content

United States


More details See the document
  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Moratorium , Public debate, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Pennsylvania capital post-conviction reversals and subsequent dispositions

By Death Penalty Information Center / Robert Brett Dunham, on 1 January 2018


2018

NGO report


More details See the document

In Pennsylvania, death-row prisoners whose convictions or death sentences are overturned in state or federal post-conviction appeals are almost never resentenced to death, a new Death Penalty Information Center study has revealed. Since Pennsylvania adopted its current death-penalty statute in September 1978, post-conviction courts have reversed prisoners’ capital convictions or death sentences in 170 cases. Defendants have faced capital retrials or resentencings in 137 of those cases, and 133 times—in more than 97% of the cases—they received non-capital dispositions ranging from life without parole to exoneration. Only four prisoners whose death sentences were reversed in post-conviction proceedings remain on death row

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Report of the General Secretary of the United Nations 2013

By United Nations, on 1 January 2013


2013

International law - United Nations


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The report contains information on the question of the death penalty, and reports that the international community as a whole is moving towards the abolition of the death penalty in law or in practice. Nevertheless, a small number of States have continued to use the death penalty and in many instances, int ernational standards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty were not fully respected. Thereport also discusses the continued difficulties in gaining access to reliable information regarding executions, and issues related to the hum an rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed.

  • Document type International law - United Nations
  • Themes list Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Battle Scars: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who have committed heinous crimes present hard cases for the American system of justice. The violence that occasionally erupts into murder can easily overcome the special respect that is afforded most veterans. However, looking away and ignoring this issue serves neither veterans nor victims. PTSD has affected an enormous number of veterans returning from combat zones. Over 800,000 Vietnam veterans suffered from PTSD. At least 175,000 veterans of Operation Desert Storm were affected by “Gulf War Illness,” which has been linked to brain cancer and other mental deficits. Over 300,000 veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts have PTSD. In one study, only about half had received treatment in the prior year.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the Arab World 2011

By Alejandro Tagarro Cervantes / Amman Center for Human Rights Studies, on 1 January 2011


2011

NGO report


More details See the document

This annual report drafted by ACHRS aims to proportionate an analytical studio of the situation of the death penalty and capital punishment in the Arab World in 2011, and includes detailed information about the 21 countries which constitute the Arab World. It also contains tables and a conclusive reflection on the current state of capital punishment.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Needs of the Wrongfully Convicted: A Report on a Panel Discussion

By Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority's Research & Analysis Unit / Northwestern University School of Law, on 1 January 2002


2002

Working with...


More details See the document

This report has been prepared for Governor Ryan’s Commission on Capital Punishment to provide additional information on those who have been wrongfully convicted of murder and subsequently incarcerated. It is hoped that this information is useful in the Commission’s consideration of possible improvements in the way criminal justice agencies and allied entities meet the needs of those who have been wrongfully convicted.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Capital Punishment Briefing Paper

By Peter Hodgkinson / Lina Gyllensten / Diana Peel / Center for Capital Punishment Studies, on 1 January 2011


2011

NGO report


More details See the document

This briefing paper is offered as a critique of the received wisdom of abolition strategies against the background of an evidence based analysis of the literature. A point of interest to begin with is to try to tease out the motivation of individuals and groups that consider themselves death penalty abolitionists.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

2016 World day against the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

On 10 October 2016 Amnesty International joins the global abolitionist movement in marking the 14th World Day Against the Death Penalty, whose focus on the use of the death penalty for terrorism-related offences is timely. While armed and other violent attacks are not a new phenomenon, recent years have seen repeated high-profile violent attacks – in many cases against a backdrop of political instability and conflict – that have sent shockwaves throughout the world.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list International law, Deterrence , World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Errors and Ethics: Dilemmas in Death

By Penny J. White / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

In the last five years, the death penalty has become a frequent topic of discussion. While discussion of such an emotive topic is not unusual for any period in history, the tenor of the recent dialogue is unusual. For the most part, the discussion centers around the problems with capital punishment, particularly its inaccuracy and unfairness. This Article begins in Part II with a discussion of recent claims about the frequency of errors in capital cases. Part III enumerates and discusses the factors generally thought to be the cause of the errors. Part IV details new rules recently adopted in one jurisdiction in an effort to eliminate the errors. Part IV also suggests that these new rules, though worthwhile, are actually a reiteration of long-standing ethical obligations of judges and lawyers, the breach of which is responsible for many of the errors. Part V recommends additional remedies which the bench and the bar must take if there is a true commitment to providing a fair, just, and reliable system for determining who the government is entitled to kill.

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

Document(s)

Preventing the Execution of the Innocent: Testimony Before the House Judiciary Committee.

By Peter Neufeld / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

There have been at least sixty-seven postconviction DNA exonerations in the United States. Our Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law has either assisted or been the attorney of record in thirty-nine of those cases, including eight men who served time on death row. For all of these men, existing appellate remedies failed to catch the mistakes and correct the injustice. In one third of the exonerations, bad lawyering contributed to their convictions yet in only one case was ineffective assistance of counsel recognized by an appellate court. Mistaken eyewitness identification was a critical factor in almost 90% of the unjust convictions yet not a single trial or appellate court found the eyewitness testimony to be unreliable.

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

Document(s)

The Innocence Protection Act of 2001

By Senator Patrick Leahy / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

The goal of our bill is simple, but profoundly important: to reduce the risk of mistaken executions. The Innocence Protection Act proposes basic, common-sense reforms to our criminal justice system that are designed to protect the innocent and to ensure that if the death penalty is imposed, it is the result of informed and reasoned deliberation, not politics, luck, bias, or guesswork. We have listened to a lot of good advice and made some refinements to the bill since the last Congress, but it is still structured around two principal reforms: improving the availability of DNA testing, and ensuring reasonable minimum standards and funding for court-appointed counsel.

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

Document(s)

Earl Washington’s Ordeal

By Eric M. Freedman / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

I offer an account of the ordeal of Earl Washington, who—having come within days of execution—was released from prison on February 12, 2001, after DNA evidence of his innocence finally proved conclusive to the Virginia authorities. I do so for two reasons. First, I believe, both as a member of his legal team and a scholar, that history deserves an accurate account of the events. Second, more broadly, I believe that the case exemplifies many of the phenomena that contribute to the injustice of the death penalty in America today.

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

Document(s)

PROBING “LIFE QUALIFICATION” THROUGH EXPANDED VOIR DIRE

By John H. Blume / Sheri Lynn Johnson / Brian Threlkeld / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


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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,

Document(s)

JURY INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING DEADLOCK IN CAPITAL SENTENCING

By Laurie B. Berberich / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


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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,

Document(s)

Congressional Power to Require DNA Testing

By Larry Yackle / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


Article

United States


More details See the document

Many states fail to conduct, or even to permit, DNA testing of biological materials in circumstances in which the results might exonerate convicts under sentence of death. Senator Patrick Leahy thinks that Congress should enact a statute requiring states to provide for testing when it promises to reveal the truth. Leahy’s idea is sensible as a matter of policy. I mean in this Article to argue that it is also constitutionally feasible.

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

Document(s)

Making the Last Chance Meaningful: Predecessor Counsel’s Ethical Duty to the Capital Defendant

By Lawrence J. Fox / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

The thesis of this paper is that lawyers who have represented clients in capital murder cases at trial and appeal—not unlike all criminal trial and initial appeal counsel, but more urgently because of the circumstances—continue to owe important obligations to their former clients. These obligations have been just recently included in the latest version of the American Bar Association’s Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death PenaltyCases: In accordance with professional norms, all persons who are or have been members of the defense team have a continuing duty to safeguard the interests of the client and should cooperate fully with successor counsel. This duty includes, but is not limited to: A. maintaining the records of the case in a manner that will inform successor counsel of all significant developments relevant to the litigation; B. providing the client’s files, as well as information regarding all aspects of the representation, to successor counsel; C. sharing potential further areas of legal and factual research with successor counsel; and D. cooperating with such professionally appropriate legal strategies as may be chosen by successor counsel. It is my hope that this article will demonstrate that these Guidelines reflect not just best practice, but actual ethical mandates that trial counsel, like Bryan Saunders, owe their former clients as those clients negotiate the jurisprudential maze known as habeas corpus.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

America’s Experiment With Capital Punishment: Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of the Ultimate Penal Sanction

By Carol S. Steiker / James R. Acker / Jordan M. Steiker / Richard J. Wilson / Robert Blecker / Stephen B. Bright / Charles S. Lanier / Robert M. Bohm / Carolina Academic Press / Ernest van den Haag / Ruth D. Peterson / William C. Bailey / Jon Sorensen / James Marquart / Victor L., on 8 September 2020


2020

Book

United States


More details See the document

The second edition of America’s Experiment with Capital Punishment is an updated and expanded version of the comprehensive first edition. Chapters, authored by the country’s leading legal and social science scholars, have been revised to include a host of important developments since the 1998 edition. Thus, new evidence and information is presented concerning racial disparities in the administration of the death penalty, wrongful convictions, deterrence, the prediction of future dangerousness, jury decision-making, public opinion about the death penalty, the effects of the capital punishment process on murder victims’ and offenders’ relatives, death row incarceration, the costs of capital punishment, execution methods, and many other issues.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

The Defense Team in Capital Cases

By Jill Miller / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

Fairness for those defendants facing the ultimate punishment of death requires that they be afforded zealous advocacy by competent counsel, and that counsel be provided with the resources necessary to effectively represent their clients. Stating that “[o]ur capital system is haunted by the demon of error, error in determining guilt, and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die,” Governor Ryan cited many deficiencies in the justice system in Illinois, including poor lawyering and inadequate resources for defense counsel, in arriving at his decision to commute all death sentences. Over the years the imposition of the death penalty has too often been a function of unqualified counsel or counsel who lacked the resources, including time, funding, and provision of investigative, expert and supportive services, to competently represent their clients, rather than a reasoned decision based on the circumstances of the crime and the background and character of the defendant.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

THE JURY IN THE TWENTY – FIRST CENTURY: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE

By William J. Bowers / Ursula Bentele / Brooklyn Law Review, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

United States


More details See the document

The first section below describes how, for many jurors, the decision about guilt appears to be so overwhelming that it prevents truly separate decision making about punishment. The second section focuses on the degree to which jurors feel constrained by what they view as a requirement to impose death if certain aggravating factors are present in the case. And finally, the third section explores the way in which mitigating evidence, even when it appears to have been extensive and credible, is ignored, devalued, or discredited.

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

Document(s)

Public Opinion on the Death Penalty in China: Results from a General Population Survey Conducted in Three Provinces in 2007/08

By Shenghui Qi / Dietrich Oberwittler / Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, on 1 January 2008


2008

Article

China


More details See the document

The present project is concerned with the significant role that public opinion plays in the debate surrounding the death penalty and criminal policy in the People’s Republic of China, including possible public reaction to any planned abolishment of the death penalty. How is public opinion on the death penalty exhibited in China? What influence does public opinion on the death penalty have on legislative and judicial practice in China? The principal goal of the project is to analyze the links that exist between public opinion, criminal policy, legislation and legal practice, and to initiate attitudinal changes amongst political and legal actors as well as the public at large. A further objective is to guide Chinese criminal law reform, particularly with regard to a possible reduction in the number of capital offences, against the background of the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Public opinion,

Document(s)

Towards the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa: A Human Rights Perspective

By Lilian Chenwi / Pretoria University Law Press, on 1 January 2007


2007

Book


More details See the document

In “Towards the abolition of the death penalty in Africa – a human rights perspective”, the author shows that international law increasingly recognises that the imposition and execution of the death penalty constitute violations of human rights. The author locates an emerging international trend towards the abolition of capital punishment in the African context. In doing so, she provides a particular African perspective on the issue. In this rich and informative text, she reflects on the role and impact of relevant UN instruments on African states, and analyses related African regional instruments, domestic law and case-law.

  • Document type Book

Document(s)

Spectacle of the Scaffold? The Politics of Death Penalty in Indonesia

By Deasy Simandjuntak, on 1 January 2015


2015

Article

Indonesia


More details See the document

Simandjuntak’s article comes back to the death sentences part of the “war against drugs” conducted by President Widjojo in Indonesia. In 2015, 14 drug convicts – mostly foreign nationals – have been executed. The article also comes back to the wide support to the death penalty in the country, on the debate on the presumed deterrent effect of the death penalty and on the political function of the capital punishment in Indonesia.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Indonesia
  • Themes list Public opinion, Deterrence , Drug Offences, Foreign Nationals, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

A New Profession for an Old Need: Why a Mitigation Specialist Must be Included on the Capital Defense Team

By Pamela Blume Leonard / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

The fundamental task of the mitigation specialist is to conduct a comprehensive social history of the defendant and identify all relevant mitigation issues. The 2003 revised edition of the American Bar Association Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases recognizes the mitigation specialist as an “indispensable member of the defense team throughout all capital proceedings.” What are the particular responsibilities and contributions of a mitigation specialist and what makes them so essential to the capital defense team as to warrant this long overdue recognition by the ABA Guidelines?

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

The Guiding Hand of Counsel’ and the ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases

By Robin M. Maher / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

The ABA has long been concerned with the provision of effective counsel for all criminal defendants, especially for those facing the death penalty. In 1989, the ABA first published its Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Counsel in Death Penalty Cases, which detailed the kind of competent, effective legal representation that all capital defendants were entitled to receive. Earlier this year, after a two-year effort drawing upon the expertise of a broad group ofdistinguished and experienced judges, lawyers, and academics, the ABA House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved revisions to those Guidelines to update and expand upon the obligations of death penalty jurisdictions to ensure due process of law and justice. “These Guidelines are not aspirational.” They articulate a national standard of care and the minimum that should be required in the defense of capital cases.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

The Professional Obligation to Raise Frivolous Issues in Death Penalty Cases

By Monroe H. Freedman / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

Lawyers are generally familiar with the ethical rule forbidding frivolous arguments, principally because of sanctions imposed under rules of civil procedure for making such arguments. Not all lawyers are aware, however, of two ways in which the prohibitions of frivolous arguments are restricted in both the rules themselves and in their enforcement. First, the ethical rules have express limitations with respect to arguments made on behalf of criminal defendants, and courts are generally loath to sanction criminal defense lawyers. Second, the term “frivolous” is narrowed, even in civil cases, by the way it is defined and explained in the ethical rules and in court decisions.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Why an Independent Appointed Authority Is Necessary to Choose Counsel for Indigent People in Capital Punishment Cases

By Ronald J. Tabak / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

The revised ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases require that an agency “independent of the judiciary” be responsible for “ensuring that each capital defendant in the jurisdiction receives high quality legal representation.” This independent agency “and not the judiciary or elected officials should select lawyers for specific cases.” These mandates reflect two realities that have become overwhelmingly clear: (1) judges—whether initially elected, subject to retention elections, or appointed—are subject to political pressures in connection with capital punishment cases; and (2) lawyers whom judges have appointed in capital punishment cases have frequently been of far lower quality than could have been selected.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

International Law Issues in Death Penalty Defense

By Richard J. Wilson / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

This short article will explore some additional issues regarding the relationship between international law and the death penalty. First, it will discuss some additional aspects of the representation of foreign nationals in capital cases. Second, it will discuss additional instances in which defense counsel can make international law arguments, regardless of the client’s nationality. Third, because international law issues are new to most lawyers in the United States, even those who are seasoned in capital litigation, it will suggest some alternative ways in which international law arguments can be made. The conclusion will put theUnited States experience with the death penalty into the broader context of world practice on the death penalty.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Issues Impacting LGBTQ+ Prisoners

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 3 September 2024


2024

NGO report

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Fair Trial

United States


More details See the document

LGBTQ+ people, especially people of color and low income, experience high levels of policing and criminalization, leading to an overrepresentation of these individuals in the incarcerated population. A 2017 study from researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, suggests that LGBTQ+ people are three times as likely to be incarcerated than the general population. Once incarcerated, LGBTQ+ people are often subjected to violence from correctional staff and fellow prisoners, as well denied medical care and access to mental health services.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Fair Trial

Document(s)

Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2010: The Year in Review

By Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report


More details See the document

Death sentences in Texas have dropped more than 70% since 2003, reaching a historic low in 2010. According to data compiled from news sources and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, juries condemned eight new individuals to death in Texas in 2010. This is the lowest number of new death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas’ revised death penalty statute in 1976. For preious annual reports on Texas please visit: http://tcadp.org/get-informed/reports/

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2022: The Year in Review

By Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, on 16 December 2022


2022

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

Use of the death penalty in Texas remained near historic low levels in 2022, with juries sentencing two people to death and the State executing five people. Three other scheduled executions were stayed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA). Overall, the eight execution dates set for 2022 were the fewest in Texas since 1996.
Despite their low number, the executions set and carried out in 2022 raise troubling issues about the fairness and utility of the death penalty. Four of the men put to death, including 78-year-old Carl Wayne Buntion, suffered from physical or mental impairments or histories of childhood trauma, while two maintained their innocence of the crimes for which they were convicted.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Oral Statement from Amnesty International during the Panel on Children of Parents Sentenced to the Death Penalty or Executed (Human Rights Council, 24th Session)

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

Campaigning


More details See the document

Oral Statement from Amnesty International during the Panel on Children of Parents Sentenced to the Death Penalty or Executed, Human Rights Council, 24th Session.

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Juveniles, International law, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Death sentences and executions 2013

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2014


2014

NGO report

arfarufres
More details See the document

This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2013. Amnesty International records figures on the use of the death penalty based on the best available information.

Document(s)

Bangladesh: Mandatory death penalty declared void after 14-year legal battle

By Child Rights International Network, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

Sentenced to death for a crime allegedly committed when he was just 14, a Bangladeshi boy’s case became the centre of a lengthy legal battle which ultimately led to mandatory executions being declared unconstitutional.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Trend Towards Abolition, Mandatory Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Death Penalty Information Pack

By Penal Reform International , on 1 January 2014


2014

NGO report


More details See the document

PRI information pack on the state of the death penalty in 2014: international trends toward abolition; moratorium; the death penalty for the “most serious crimes”; right to a fair trial; mandatory death penalty; conditions of imprisonment; clemency; execution; transparency; deterrence; public opinion; victims’ rights.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

The death penalty, terrorism and international law

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2014


Academic report


More details See the document

The death penalty is retained for terrorism offences in many countries, but how does it conform with international standards? The global community has had much to say about both terrorism and capital punishment; this paper brings together the key arguments to identify the appropriate state responses in the face of terrorism.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list International law, Terrorism,

Document(s)

Fighting for clients’ lives: the impact of the death penalty on defence lawyers

By Susannah Sheffer / Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2014


Working with...


More details See the document

How are lawyers affected by defending death penalty cases, where failure means execution? And how do they respond when their clients are killed?This briefing paper, written by Susannah Sheffer and drawing on her book Fighting for their lives, showcases the voices of the lawyers themselves to demonstrate the profound and long-lasting impacts that the death penalty can have on those indirectly affected by it.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Irreversible Error: Recommended Reforms for Preventing and Correcting Errors in the Administration of Capital Punishment

By The Constitution Project, on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

The Committee also offers a host of other recommendations to prevent and correct wrongfulconvictions. These include recommendations regarding the preservation, testing andpresentation of forensic evidence; the creation of statutory remedies for wrongful convictionsand the implementation of procedures for the systemic review to help avoid future errors; thevideotaping of custodial interrogations – where practical – in order to avoid the documentedproblem of false and otherwise inaccurate confessions; the adoption of best practices foreyewitness identifications; the effective implementation of prosecutors’ constitutionalobligation to disclose exculpatory evidence; and enforcement of the Vienna Convention onConsular Relations.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Georgian : უვადო თავისუფლების აღკვეთისა და გრძელვადიანი სასჯელების გამოყენება და აღსრულება საქართველოში

By Penal Reform International / Tsira Chanturia / Maia Khasia / Jacqueline Macalesher, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

ru
More details See the document

საქართველოში ბოლო განაჩენი სიკვდილით დასჯის შესახებ აღსრულებულ იქნა სავარაუდოდ 1992/93 წლებში. სიკვდილით დასჯილთა შესახებ სტატისტიკურიინფორმაცია გამოთხოვილ იქნა სასჯელაღსრულების პრობაციისა და იურიდიული დახმარების სამინისტროს სასჯელაღსრულების დეპარტამენტიდან, თუმცა მიღებული პასუხის თანახმად, აღნიშნული ინფორმაცია ვერ იქნა მოძიებული

Document(s)

Thai : สถานการณ์โทษประหาร และการประหารชีวิต ในปี 2554

By Amnesty International / ประเทศนิรโทษกรรม, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

enenfafrzh-hantes
More details See the document

รายงานข้อมูลการใช้โทษประหารชีวิตในปี 2554 เป็นเครื่องยืนยันว่าทั่วโลกมีแนวโน้มที่มุ่งสู่การยกเลิกโทษประหาร จำ� นวนประเทศที่มีการประหารชีวิตลดลงจากปีที่ผ่านมา และในภาพรวมมีความก้าวหน้าเกิดขึ้นในทุกภูมิภาคของโลก สหรัฐอเมริกาเป็นเพียงประเทศเดียวในกลุ่มประเทศอุตสาหกรรม G8ที่ยังมีการประหารชีวิตอยู่ มลรัฐอิลลินอยส์เป็นรัฐที่ 16 ซึ่งยกเลิกโทษประหารและในเดือนพฤศจิกายน จอห์น คิตซ์ฮาร์เบอร์ (John Kitzhaber) ผู้ว่าการมลรัฐโอเรกอนประกาศยุติการใช้โทษประหารชั่วคราว

Document(s)

Shadow Report on the Death Penalty in the United States of America for the CERD

By The Advocates for Human Rights / Puerto Rican Coalition against the Death Penalty / Greater Caribbean For Life, on 1 January 2014


2014

NGO report


More details See the document

This report for consideration during the85th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination addresses five main issues with regard to the United States’ use of the death penalty and how the death penalty disproportionately affects minorities in the United States.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Discrimination,

Document(s)

Written Statement to the 20th Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on Iran

By Iran Human Rights (IHR) / United Nations / World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / The Advocates for Human Rights / Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran / Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran-Geneva (KMMK-G), on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

This report is being submitted by Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, The Advocates for Human Rights, Iran Human Rights (IHR), Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran-Geneva (KMMK-G), and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, relevant stakeholders, in conjunction with the Universal Periodic Review of Iran by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Iran will be subject to review during the 20th session (October – November 2014). This report examines the imposition of the death penalty in Iran in light of international human rights standards. This report will also examine and discuss the judicial process applied in cases involving punishment by the death penalty. Reports and commentary indicate that there is a serious problem of access to justice for the vast majority of individuals accused of crimes for which the death penalty is a possible punishment. It has been compiled from a combination of sources, including the penal code, news reports, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other commentary.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Minorities, Religion , Due Process , International law, Capital offences, Right to life, Drug Offences, Foreign Nationals, Stoning, Statistics,

Document(s)

Korean : 연례사형현황 보고서 2011 사형선고와 사형집행

By Amnesty International / 국제앰네스티는, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

enenfafrzh-hantes
More details See the document

2011년 세계 사형현황은 전세계적인 사형폐지 움직임을 잘 나타내주고 있다. 사형을 적용하는 국가의 수는 예년에 비해 더 줄어들었으며 세계 모든 지역에서 사형폐지를 향한 움직임이 있었다.미국은 G8 국가들 중 유일하게 사형을 집행했지만 일리노이 주(州)가 16번째 사형폐지주가 되었고 오레곤 주지사가 사형집행모라토리엄을 선포하는 등 일정 부분에서 발전이 있었다.

Document(s)

Death In Decline ’09: Los Angeles Holds California Back as Nation Shifts to Permanent Imprisonment

By American Civil Liberties Union / Northern California, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

United States


More details See the document

The tide is turning in the United States from death sentences to permanent imprisonment. A growing number of states are choosing permanent imprisonment over the death penalty, fueled by growing concerns about the wrongful conviction of innocent people and the high costs of the death penalty in comparison to permanent imprisonment. In 2009, the number of new death sentences nationwide reached the lowest level since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. California lags behind in this national trend. The Golden State sent more people to death row last year than in the seven preceding years. By the close of 2009, California’s death row was the largest and most costly in the United States.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Sentencing Alternatives, Networks,

Document(s)

Report to the Committee on Defender Services Judicial Conference of the United States – Update on the Cost and Quality of Defense Representation in Federal Death Penalty Cases

By Lisa Greenman / Jon B. Gould / Office of Defender Services of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

United States


More details See the document

Part I of this report offers an introduction and overview of the research. Part II examines the way prosecution policies and practices have developed from 1989, the beginning of the modern federal death penalty era, through the end of 2009. Parts III, IV, and V of this report discuss the costs associated with defending a federal capital case. Section VI describes qualitative data obtained through interviews of federal judges who had presided over a federal death penalty case and experienced federal capital defense counsel on topics such as the quality of defense representation, case budgeting and case management practices, the role of experts, and the death penalty authorization process. Finally, in Sections VII and VIII, the Recommendations of the 1998 Spencer Report are reaffirmed, and the Commentary associated with those recommendations is updated to reflect the past 12 years of experience with federal capital litigation.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Financial cost,

Document(s)

FHRI and PRI submission to the UN Sec-Gen report on the status of the death penalty in East Africa – Kenya and Uganda April 2012

By Penal Reform International, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

Kenya


More details See the document

Two trends accompanying the abolition of the death penalty give reason for concern: there is a striking increase in offences that carry the sanction of life imprisonment as the sanction which typically replaces the death penalty following abolition or a moratorium of the death penalty; and a striking increase in prisoners serving this indefinite sentence. Secondly, a differential, harsher treatment is applied to them as compared to other categories of prisoners. At the same time, the development of international standards in any affirmative–if not legally binding– form are lacking. As a consequence states are more frequently enforcing a form of punishment problematic in terms of international human rights standards and norms.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Kenya
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Document(s)

Social survey: public attitudes in Kazakhstan to the death penalty for terrorist offences

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2014


2014

NGO report


More details See the document

This survey polled public opinion in Kazakhstan towards the use of the death penalty for terrorist offences resulting in death, and also for especially grave crimes committed inwartime.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public opinion,