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2134 Document(s) 1099 Member(s) 410 Article(s) 12 Page(s)

Document(s)

Moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Report of the Secretary-General (2008)

By United Nations, on 8 September 2020


2020

United Nations report

arruzh-hantesfr
More details See the document

The present report surveys respect for the rights of those sentenced to death as set out in the international human rights treaties and the guidelines established by the Economic and Social Council in 1984. Drawing on contributions of Member States, the report surveys various motivations for establishing a moratorium on or abolishing the death penalty, as well as those for retaining the death penalty. It also includes up-to-date statistical information on the worldwide use of the death penalty, including moratoriums established in States that have not abolished this form of punishment, together with relevant developments since the sixty-second session of the General Assembly. The report concludes by confirming the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty, the important role played by moratoriums in those States that seek to abolish it and possibilities for further work on the issue.

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)

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

By United Nations, on 1 January 2008


2008

International law - United Nations

frarruzh-hantes
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The present report contains information on the question of the death penalty covering the period from June 2009 to July 2010, and draws attention to a number of phenomena, including the continuing trend towards abolition and the ongoing difficulties experienced in gaining access to reliable information on executions.

Document(s)

Facts and Figures 2013

on 10 October 2013


2013

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

ares
More details Download [ pdf - 115 Ko ]

Facts and Figures world day against the death penalty 2013

Document(s)

Moratoriums on the use of the death penalty. Report of the Secretary-General (2010)

By United Nations, on 8 September 2020


2020

United Nations report

frarruzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report is submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to General Assembly resolution 63/168. The report confirms the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty. It also recommends that Member States introduce a moratorium on the death penalty. Those States which still intend to implement the death penalty and are not willing to establish a moratorium should apply the death penalty only in the case of the most serious crimes. The protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty should be ensured, pursuant to the relevant international laws. Furthermore, in that regard, States have an obligation not to practise the death penalty in secrecy, nor to practice discrimination in its application.

Document(s)

Poster World Day 2006

on 10 October 2006


2006

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 191 Ko ]

Discrimination, unfair trials, judicial error, the execution of child
offenders and those suffering from mental disabilities all
amount to a failure of justice and provide more compelling rea-
sons to abolish the death penalty. 10 October 2006 is the fourth
World Day Against the Death Penalty. Join the World Coalition
Against the Death Penalty in working for an end to the use of
capital punishment and a globe free of judicial killing.

Document(s)

The question of the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2006


2006

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report contains information covering developments during 2006. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues. This is illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of countries that have abolished the death penalty and by the increase in ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this form of punishment.

Document(s)

World Coalition Strategic Plan 2023-2027

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 22 August 2023


2023

World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 455 Ko ]

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2007


2007

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantzh-hantes
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In addition to reporting on the principal initiatives undertaken in 2006 to address the scourge of extrajudicial executions around the world, this report focuses on four issues of particular importance: (a) the mandate of the Special Rapporteur in armed conflicts; (b) “mercy killings” in armed conflict; (c) the “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty may be imposed; and (d) the international law status of the mandatory death penalty.

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2007


International law - United Nations

arrufres
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The present report details the activities of the Special Rapporteur in 2009 and the first four months of 2010. This is the final report to the Human Rights Council by Philip Alston in his capacity as Special Rapporteur. It analyses the activities and working methods of the mandate over the past six years, and identifies important issues for future research. Detailed addenda to this report address: (a) accountability for killings by police; (b) election-related killings; and (c) targeted killings.

Document(s)

Capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2001


2001

United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
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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(s)

Capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2005


2005

International law - United Nations

arruesesarruenfrfrzh-hantzh-hant
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The present report, prepared pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolutions 1754 (LIV) of 16 May 1973 and 1995/57 of 28 July 1995, is the seventh quinquennial report of the Secretary-General on capital punishment.1 It covers the period 1999-2003 and reviews developments in the use of capital punishment worldwide, both in law and in practice. 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(s)

Capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2005


United Nations report

arruesfrzh-hant
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The present report, prepared pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolutions 1754 (LIV) of 16 May 1973 and 1995/57 of 28 July 1995, and Council decision 2005/247 of 22 July 2005, is the eighth quinquennial report of the Secretary-General on capital punishment. It covers the period 2004-2008 and reviews developments in the use of capital punishment. The report confirms a very marked trend towards abolition and restriction of the use of capital punishment in most countries. The rate at which States that retained the death penalty at the start of the quinquennium have abolished its use either in law or in practice is comparable with that of previous reporting periods, and may even be accelerating slightly. Moreover, countries that retain the death penalty are, with rare exceptions, significantly reducing its use in terms of numbers of persons executed and the crimes for which it may be imposed. Nevertheless, where capital punishment remains in force, there are serious problems with regard to the respect of international norms and standards, notably in the limitation of the death penalty to the most serious crimes, the exclusion of juvenile offenders from its scope, and guarantees of a fair trial.

Document(s)

Question of the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/77

By United Nations, on 1 January 2003


2003

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report contains information covering the period from January 2001 through December 2002, in order to ensure that there are no gaps in coverage since the last version of the sixth quinquennial report which covered information up to the end of 2000. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues, which is illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this punishment.

Document(s)

Question of the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 2003/67

By United Nations, on 1 January 2004


2004

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report contains information covering the period from January 2003 through December 2003. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues, illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this punishment.

Document(s)

Capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2001


2001

United Nations report

arruesesenarrufrfrzh-hantzh-hant
More details See the document

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(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)

The question of the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2006


2006

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report contains information covering the period from January 2004 to December 2005. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues; this is illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of countries that are completely abolitionist and by the increase in ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this punishment.

Document(s)

Death sentences and executions in 2009

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report

arfres
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This document summarizes Amnesty International’s global research on the use of the death penalty in 2009. More than two-thirds of the countries of the world have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. While 58 countries retained the death penalty in 2009, most did not use it. Eighteen countries were known to have carried out executions, killing a total of 714 people; however, this figure does not include the thousands of executions that were likely to have taken place in China, which again refused to divulge figures on its use of the death penalty. For an update to this document please see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ACT50/005/2010/en

Document(s)

TRANSPARENCY AND THE IMPOSITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY, Report of the Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2006


2006

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions analyses a critical area of non-compliance with legal safeguards designed to protect the right to life. It builds upon the proposition that “[c]ountries that have maintained the death penalty are not prohibited by international law from making that choice, but they have a clear obligation to disclose the details of their application of the penalty” (E/CN.4/2005/7, para. 59). The report analyses the legal basis of that transparency obligation and examines case studies that illustrate the major problems that exist in this area.

Document(s)

Facts and Figures 2011

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2011


2011

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 100 Ko ]

Facts and Figures 2011

Document(s)

Facts and Figures 2010

By World Day against the death penalty , on 10 October 2010


2010

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 81 Ko ]

Facts and Figures 2010

Document(s)

Facts and Figures 2009

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2009


2009

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 95 Ko ]

Facts and Figures 2009

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in 2010: Year End Reports

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report


More details See the document

The death penalty continued to be mired in conflict in 2010, as states grappled with an ongoing controversy over lethal injections, the high cost of capital punishment, and increasing public sentiment in favor of alternative sentences. Executions dropped by 12% compared with 2009, and by more than 50% since 1999. The number of new death sentences was about the same as in 2009, the lowest number in 34 years. —– For other DPIC year end reports (from 1995 – 2009) please visit: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/reports

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

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2004


2004

International law - United Nations

arfrzh-hantesru
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This report is submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 2005/34, and should be read in conjunction with its various addenda. They provide the following: a detailed analysis of communications sent to Governments which describe alleged cases of extrajudicial executions; reports on country missions to Nigeria and Sri Lanka during 2005; a report on the principle of transparency in relation to the death penalty; and several reports aimed at following up on earlier country missions to the Sudan, Brazil, Honduras and Jamaica.

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

aresfrruzh-hant
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
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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)

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

By United Nations / Manfred Nowak, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

Mongolia

rufrzh-hantesar
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The Special Rapporteur is also deeply concerned about all the circumstances surrounding the death penalty in Mongolia, especially the total secrecy. Despite repeated requests to the highest authorities of the Government, as well as prosecutors and the judiciary, the Special Rapporteur was not provided with any official information. Concern was expressed that not even the families of the condemned persons are notified of the exact date or place of execution and do not receive their mortal remains for burial, which amounts to inhuman treatment of the family, contrary to article 7 of the Covenant. Moreover, prisoners on death row at the Gants Hudag and Zuunmod detention centres are held in complete isolation, handcuffed and shackled, and denied adequate food. These conditions constitute additional punishments which can only be qualified as torture as defined in article 1 of the Convention.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2004


2004

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

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


2020

NGO report

China

frzh-hantesarru
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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)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Asma Jahangir, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/36

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 2003


2003

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The report also discusses the issue of capital punishment and makes reference to death penalty cases in which the Special Rapporteur has intervened in reaction to reports that the sentences concerned had been passed in violation of international restrictions and human rights standards.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Asma Jahangir

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 2003


International law - United Nations

frzh-hantesarru
More details See the document

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Asma Jahangir, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2001/45

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 2002


2002

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The report also discusses the issue of capital punishment and makes reference to death penalty cases in which the Special Rapporteur has intervened in reaction to reports that the sentences concerned had been passed in violation of international restrictions and human rights standards.

Document(s)

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

By United Nations / Manfred Nowak, on 1 January 2009


2009

International law - United Nations

arfrzh-hantesru
More details See the document

In chapter III, the Special Rapporteur focuses on the compatibility of the death penalty with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. He concludes that the historic interpretation of the right to personal integrity and human dignity in relation to the death penalty is increasingly challenged by the dynamic interpretation of this right in relation to corporal punishment and the inconsistencies deriving from the distinction between corporal and capital punishment, as well as by the universal trend towards the abolition of capital punishment.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Bacre Waly Ndiaye

By United Nations / Bacre Waly Ndiaye, on 1 January 1997


1997

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
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This report is submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rightsresolution 1997/61 of 16 April 1997 entitled “Extrajudicial, summary orarbitrary executions”. It is the sixth report submitted to the Commissionon Human Rights by Bacre Waly Ndiaye and the fifteenth submitted to theCommission since the mandate on “Summary and arbitrary executions” wasestablished by Economic and Social Council resolution 1982/35 of 7 May 1982.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Asma Jahangir

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 1999


1999

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

This report is submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rightsresolution 1998/68 of 21 April 1998 entitled “Extrajudicial, summary orarbitrary executions”. It is the first report submitted to the Commission byMs. Asma Jahangir and the sixteenth submitted to the Commission since themandate on “summary and arbitrary executions” was established by Economic andSocial Council resolution 1982/35 of 7 May 1982.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the special rapporteur, Ms. Asma Jahangir, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/35

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 2000


2000

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

In its resolution 1999/35, the Commission on Human Rights requested the Special Rapporteur to continue monitoring the implementation of existing international standards on safeguards and restrictions relating to the imposition of capital punishment, bearing in mind the comments made by the Human Rights Committee in its interpretation of article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the Second Optional Protocol thereto.

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)

A Comparative Analysis of Capital Punishment: Statutes, Policies, Frequencies, and Public Attitudes the World Over

By Dagny Dlaskovich / Rita Simon / Lexington Books, on 1 January 2002


2002

Book


More details See the document

A Comparative Analysis of Capital Punishment provides a concise and detailed history of the death penalty. Incorporating and synthesizing public opinion data and empirical studies, Simon and Blaskovich’s work compares, across societies, the types of offenses punishable by death, the level of public support for the death penalty, the forms the penalty takes, and the categories of persons exempt from punishment.

  • Document type Book
  • Themes list Public opinion,

Document(s)

Capital Punishment in the Philippines

By Arlie Tagayuna / Southeast Asian Studies, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

Philippines


More details See the document

While an examination of the social and political currents of each country would perhaps be the best way to answer the question “Why is there strong support for capital punishment in Southeast Asia?”, this paper will begin this effort by looking specifically at the Philippines, a society that has received more exposure to democratic tenets and human rights advocacy than other Southeast Asian countries (Blitz, 2000).

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

Document(s)

Protection of the Rights of Children of Parents Sentenced to Death or Exectued: An Expert Legal Analysis

By Quaker United Nations Office / Stephanie Farrior, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

The QUNO’s report offers an updated review of differents elements of international law on the human rights of the child.

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

Article(s)

Jamaica vote illustrates retentionist trend in the Caribbean

on 9 January 2009

Jamaican lawmakers voted to keep capital punishment and the government seems determined to use it. Caribbean abolitionists are battling similar moves across the region.

2009

Jamaica

Public Opinion 

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Document(s)

Bylaws of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty 2023

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 22 August 2023


2023

World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 146 Ko ]

Document(s)

Bylaws 2021

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 September 2021


2021

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 97 Ko ]

Bylaws of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty As Amended by the 18 June 2021 General Assembly

  • Document type World Coalition
  • Available languages Statuts 2021

Article(s)

China reduces the number of crimes punishable by death to 46, but keeps drug trafficking in the list

By Aurélie Plaçais, on 7 October 2015

China removes nine non-violent and rarely used criminal offenses from capital punishment.

2015

China

Drug Offenses

Document(s)

INSECURITY REVEALED: Voices Against the Death Penalty

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 6 August 2024


2024

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1313 Ko ]

Document(s)

Race Discrimination and the Legitimacy of Capital Punishment: Reflections on the Interaction of Fact and Perception

By George Woodworth / David C. Baldus / DePaul Law Review, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

United States


More details See the document

The authors analyze data concerning race discrimination in capital sentencing and data regarding how the public perceives this issue. They conclude that race discrimination is not an inevitable feature of all death penalty systems. Before Furman v. Georgia was decided in 1972, widespread discrimination against black defendants marred the practice of capital punishment in America. According to studies cited by the authors, race-of-defendant discrimination has lessened since Furman. However, race-of-victim discrimination remains a significant factor in sentencing; defendants with white victims are at a significantly higher risk of being sentenced to death and executed than are defendants whose victims are black, Asian, or Hispanic. From 1976 to 2002, the proportion of white-victim cases among all murder and non-negligent manslaughter cases has ranged between 51% and 56%. However, 81% of executed defendants had white victims. Polling data indicate that the general public perceives only one form of race discrimination in the use of the death penalty – race-of-defendant discrimination – and that the public and elected officials may see racial discrimination as inevitable in the criminal justice system. Race of victim discrimination is a pervasive problem in the death penalty system. However, race discrimination is not inevitable. If serious controls were enacted to address this problem (such as those imposed in a few states) a fairer system could result.

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

Document(s)

Mentally Ill Prisoners on Death Row: Unsolved Puzzles for Courts and Legislatures

By Richard J. Bonnie / Catholic University Law Review, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

This paper focuses on the problems relating to mental illness or other mental disabilities that arise after sentencing, where the underlying values at stake are the dignity of the condemned prisoner and the integrity of the law.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability,

Article(s)

Fiji abolishes death penalty for all crimes through amendment to military law

By Auréie Plaçais, on 23 February 2015

On 9 February 2015, Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum introduced in parliament the Republic of Fiji Military Forces amended Bill 2015, a one page bill to abolish the death penalty provision.

2015

Fiji

Article(s)

“Look at us with a merciful eye”

By Human Rights Watch, on 5 March 2013

Human Rights Watch is launching a 30-page report on juvenile offenders awaiting execution on Yemen’s death row.

2013

Juveniles

Yemen

Yemen

Document(s)

Leaflet – 2020 World Day

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


2020

Academic report

fr
More details Download [ - 0 Ko ]

2020 World Day 8-page leaflet

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Fair Trial, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty,
  • Available languages Brochure - Journée mondiale 2020

Document(s)

The Failed Failsafe: The Politics of Executive Clemency

By Cathleen Burnett / Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article discusses the role of executive clemency in light of the current political environment. Attending to the political aspects of the capital litigation process gives insight into the trends in the use of executive clemency

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

Document(s)

Database Center for North Korean Human Rights – Briefings on public execution

By Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

Republic of Korea


More details See the document

NKDB hosts a monthly English language briefing and discussion on North Korean human rights every month with embassy officials, NGO staff, and NKDB staff as guests

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Republic of Korea
  • Themes list World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Stories of Victims of Terrorism

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2016


2016

Multimedia content

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 142 Ko ]

Together with AfVT, the World Coalition has developed this two-page note explaining why some victims of terrorism are against the death penalty.

Document(s)

China Executed 2,400 People in 2013, Dui Hua

By Dui Hua Human Rights Journal, on 1 January 2014


2014

Article

China


More details See the document

The Dui Hua Foundation estimates that China executed approximately 2,400 people in 2013 and will execute roughly the same number of people in 2014. Annual declines in executions recorded in recent years are likely to be offset in 2014 by the use of capital punishment in anti-terrorism campaigns in Xinjiang and the anti-corruption campaign nationwide.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

EU Policy on Death Penalty

By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2014


Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This page contains videos and documents on issues dealing with the death penalty.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty

Document(s)

Retribution and Redemption in the Operation of Executive Clemency

By Elizabeth Rapaport / Chicago Kent Law Review, on 1 January 2000


2000

Article

United States


More details See the document

In this Article, my goal is to raise doubts about the adequacy of the neo-retributive theory of clemency and stimulate reappraisal and development of what I will call the “redemptive” perspective. To this end I will present an exposition and critique of neo-retributive theory of clemency.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Retribution, Clemency,

Document(s)

International Law and the Moral Precipice: A Legal Policy Critique of the Death Row Phenomenon

By David A Sadoff / Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, on 1 January 2008


2008

Article


More details See the document

This article provides an in-depth analysis of death row phenomenon.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Death Row Phenomenon,

Document(s)

Sri Lankan expert needed to conduct study on the death penalty – Terms of reference

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 23 December 2021


2021

World Coalition


More details Download [ pdf - 83 Ko ]
  • Document type World Coalition

Document(s)

The Prevalence and Potential Causes of Wrongful Conviction by Fingerprint Evidence.

By Simon A. Cole / Golden Gate University Law Review, on 1 January 2006


2006

Article

United States


More details See the document

As the number of post-conviction DNA exonerations mounted and the Innocence Project undertook to treat these exonerations as a data set indicating the principal causes of wrongful conviction, the absence of fingerprint cases in that data set could have been interpreted as soft evidence that latent print evidence was unlikely to contribute to wrongful convictions. That situation changed in 2004 when Stephan Cowans became the first – and thus far the only – person to be exonerated by DNA evidence for a wrongful conviction in which fingerprint evidence was a contributing factor. Cowans’s wrongful conviction in Boston in 1997 for the attempted murder of a police officer was based almost solely on eyewitness identification and latent print evidence. The Cowans case not only provided dramatic additional support for the already established proposition that wrongful conviction by fingerprint was possible, it also demonstrated why the exposure of such cases, when they do occur, is exceedingly unlikely. These points have already been made in a comprehensive 2005 study of exposed cases of latent print misattributions. In this article, I discuss some additional things that we have learned about the prevalence and potential causes of wrongful conviction by fingerprint in the short time since the publication of that study.

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

Document(s)

Condemning the Other in Death Penalty Trials: Biographical Racism, Structural Mitigation, and the Empathic Divide

By Craig Haney / DePaul Law Review, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article analyses racial discrimination in the administration of the death penalty – despite their importance to the critical debate over the fairness of capital punishment – are not able to address the effects of many of the most pernicious forms of racism in American society. In particular, they cannot examine “biographical racism” – the accumulation of race-based obstacles, indignities, and criminogenic influences that characterizes the life histories of so many African-American capital defendants. Second, I propose that recognizing the role of this especially pernicious form of racism in the lives of capital defendants has significant implications for the way we estimate fairness (as opposed to parity) in our analyses of death sentencing. Chronic exposure to race-based, life-altering experiences in the form of biographical racism represents a profoundly important kind of “structural mitigation.” Because of the way our capital sentencing laws are fashioned, and the requirement that jurors must engage in a “moral inquiry into the culpability” of anyone whom they might sentence to die, this kind of mitigation provides a built-in argument against imposing the death penalty on African-American capital defendants. It is structured into their social histories by the nature of the society into which they have been born.

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

Document(s)

Dead Innocent: The Death Penalty Abolitionist Search for a Wrongful Execution.

By Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier / Tulsa Law Review, on 1 January 2006


2006

Article

United States


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This article examines the debate about whether or not an innocent person has been executed in the United States. The article begins by discussing several famous historical claims of wrongful execution, including Sacco & Vanzetti, the Rosenbergs, and Bruno Hauptmann. Then, the article addresses some recent claims of wrongful executions, including the case of Larry Griffin and the impact of a 2006 DNA test in the Roger Coleman case. The article evaluates why some innocence claims attract more attention than others. By recognizing two obstacles in wrongful execution claims and by establishing five lessons for gaining media attention, the article uses its historical analysis to extract strategy lessons for death penalty abolitionists. Finally, the article weighs arguments regarding the pros and cons of an abolitionist strategy that focuses on proving the innocence of executed individuals. The article concludes that wrongful execution claims provide an important argument for abolitionists, but such claims should not be presented as the main or only problem with the death penalty.

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

Document(s)

Averting Mistaken Executions by Adopting the Model Penal Code’s Exclusion of Death in the Presence of Lingering Doubts

By Margery Malkin Koosed / Northern Illinois Law Review, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article considers community views on the risk of mistaken executions and how sentencing juries respond to such risks. It explores the present state of the law surrounding risk-taking regarding lingering or residual doubt, and finds the law in a state of denial. Though the risk may be there, and jurors may see it, this is not something they are directed, or even invited, to consider. Some jurors may deny effect to the risk they see, believing it is not a proper subject of their attention. Others will consider it, yet wonder whether they should. This inconsistent treatment, and dissonance from what the public wants and justifiably expects from its legal system, is largely a product of the United States Supreme Court’s 1988 decision in Franklin v. Lynaugh. Arguably misread, and at least misguided, the Court’s decision on considering lingering or residual doubts about guilt as a mitigating factor at the penalty phase has retarded development of meaningful ways to avert mistaken executions.

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

Document(s)

International Legal Trends and the Mandatory Death Penalty in the Commonwealth Caribbean

By Saul Lehrfreund / Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal, on 1 January 2001


Article


More details See the document

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,

Member(s)

Hope and Justice

on 30 April 2020

Hope and Justice is a small association founded after a plea for help from two prisoners sentenced to death, Justin Fuller and Carl Brooks. The initial aim was to save their lives by raising awareness among the greatest number of people possible of their cases and a fund for their defence. Justin Fuller was executed […]

2020

Belgium

Member(s)

Forum Marocain pour la Vérité et la Justice

on 30 April 2020

Le Forum marocain pour la vérité et la justice (FMVJ) was created by victims of the “years of lead” between 1956 and 1999. It defines itself as a human rights association dedicated to defending the rights of victims of forced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture and exile, and their families. The FMVJ seeks to establish the […]

Morocco

Member(s)

Center for Prisoner’s Rights (CPR)

on 30 April 2020

The Center for Prisoners’ Rights (CPR) was established in March 1995 as the first Japanese NGO specializing in prison reform. CPR‘s goal is to reform Japanese prison conditions in accordance with international human rights standards and to abolish the death penalty. The organisation researches human rights violations in Japanese prisons and makes its finding known […]

Japan

Member(s)

Comité des Observateurs des Droits de l’Homme (CODHO)

on 30 April 2020

On 1 July 1997 a group of lawyers, economists and political scientists from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) held a meeting following the massacre of children by militiamen in North Kivu in the east of the country. Revolted by this unspoken tragedy, they decided to set up the Committee of Human Rights Monitors (Codho). […]

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Member(s)

Culture pour la Paix et la Justice (CPJ)

on 30 April 2020

The association Culture for Peace and Justice (CPJ) was founded in Kinshasa at the end of 1990s by a lawyer, Liévin Ngondji, and a law student, Molisho Ndarabu Eulethère. At a time of war, they wanted to fight against the practice of the Military court, an exceptional court established in 1997 that pronounced numerous death […]

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Document(s)

The Innocents

By Taryn Simon, on 1 January 2002


2002

Working with...


More details See the document

The Innocents documents the stories of individuals who served time in prison for violent crimes they did not commit. At issue is the question of photography’s function as a credible eyewitness and arbiter of justice.

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

Member(s)

Iraqi Coalition against Death Penalty

on 30 April 2020

The Iraqi Coalition against Death Penalty (first called the Iraqi Alliance for the Prevention of the Death Penalty) promotes and enhances the values of human rights among Iraqi people. The Coalition works to define the culture of human rights in the judicial system. It also observes and documents violations of human rights in Iraq to […]

2020

Iraq

Member(s)

Ordre des Barreaux Francophones et Germanophones de Belgique – OFBG

on 30 April 2020

The French- and German-speaking bars association (Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone, OBFG) brings together 10 French-speaking bar association and one German-speaking. It is regulated by Belgian penal laws.

Belgium

Member(s)

Adaleh Center for Human Rights Studies

on 30 April 2020

The Adaleh Center for Human Rights Studies is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded on September 2003 and based in Amman, Jordan. Its mission is to enforce human rights values in Jordan and the Arab world, through building the capacity of non-governmental organizations and practitioners working in the field of human rights, democracy and justice. The […]

Jordan

Member(s)

ACAT Liberia

on 30 April 2020

Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture in Liberia (ACAT Liberia) is an NGO based in Liberia. Created in 2003 and accredited in 2004, it fights to have a society free of torture and death penalty. To reach these goals, their main actions are: – Education and awareness, – advocacy, assistance, – cooperation, – […]

Liberia

Member(s)

KontraS (Commission for the Disapeared and Victims of Violence)

on 30 April 2020

KontraS (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) in Indonesia is a human rights NGO that deals with human rights issues in Indonesia, particularly civil and political rights. Abolition of the death penalty is one of its advocacy objectives. KontraS is a member of regional and national networks: Anti Death Penalty Asian Network (ADPAN) […]

Indonesia

Member(s)

California People of Faith

on 30 April 2020

The California People of Faith (CPF) is a nonprofit organization 501, based in Los Angeles in the United States. CPF is an interfaith organization which advocates for alternatives to the death penalty in California and throughout the United States. CPF coordinates grassroots affords via chapters located throughout California, organizing Faith-based communities to resist corrosive temptation […]

United States

Member(s)

RADHOMA

on 30 April 2020

The network of human rights organisations and activists for the abolition of the death penalty (RADHOMA) is an abolitionist NGO of the DRC. 1. Fundation and headquarters Created on 10 October 2005 by member associations, the organization is a member of the Congolese Coalition Against the Death Penalty and of the World Coalition Against the Death […]

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Member(s)

Children Education Society (CHESO)

on 30 April 2020

The mandate of Children Education Society (CHESO) is: – To combat causes of most vulnerable children including children’s rights violations, poor governance,  HIV/AIDS, poverty, climate change and reinforce realization of the children’s right to education -To eliminate bad policies and laws subjecting children to vulnerability – To end human rights violations subjecting children to vulnerability […]

United Republic of Tanzania

Document(s)

The Last Supper

By Julie Green, on 1 January 2013


2013

Working with...


More details See the document

The Last Supper illustrates the meal requests of U.S. death row inmates. Cobalt blue mineral paint is applied to second-hand plates, then kiln-fired by technical advisor Toni Acock. I am looking for a space to exhibit all the plates on a ten-year loan. 540 final meals, and two first meals on the outside for exonerated men, are completed to date. I plan to continue adding fifty plates a year until capital punishment is abolished.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions,

Member(s)

Civil Rights and Social Justice Society (CRSJS)

on 30 April 2020

The Civil Rights and Social Justice Society (CRSJS) is a human rights NGO registered under the Travancore Cochin, Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955 in Kerala State, India in the year 1997. The members of CRSJS are persons committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in all spheres. However the main […]

2020

India

Document(s)

Views on the death penalty among college students in India

By Eric G. Lambert / Sudershan Pasupuleti / Punishment and Society / Shanhe Jiang / K. Jaishankar / Jagadis V. Bhimarasetty, on 1 January 2008


2008

Article

India


More details See the document

While research abounds on attitudes toward capital punishment in the United States, such work has been lacking in non-western nations — particularly in India, the world’s largest democracy. Data recently collected have revealed variance in levels of support for the death penalty among Indian college students: 44 percent express some degree of opposition, 13 percent are uncertain, and 43 percent express some degree of support. Reasons for support or opposition also exhibited variance. According to a multivariate analysis, statistically significant reasons for support included retribution, instrumentalist goals, and incapacitation; while significant reasons for opposition included morality and the belief that deterrence could be achieved by imposing sentences of life without parole.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list India
  • Themes list Public opinion, Public debate,

Document(s)

Life, Death and the Crime of Crimes: Supreme Penalties and the ICC Statute

By William A. Schabas / Punishment and Society, on 1 January 2000


2000

Article


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The attitude of international law and practice to supreme penalties has evolved enormously over the past half-century. At Nuremberg, in 1946, capital punishment was imposed upon Nazi war criminals. But at the Rome Conference in 1998, when the international community provided for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, not only was capital punishment excluded, the text also limited the scope of life imprisonment. These changes were driven principally by evolving norms of international human rights law. The first changes became apparent in the early work of the International Law Commission on the Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind, during the 1950s. When criminal prosecution returned to the international agenda, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was widespread agreement to exclude capital punishment. But at the Rome Conference, a relatively small and geographically isolated group of States made an aggressive attempt to defend capital punishment. Ultimately unsuccessful, their efforts only drew attention to a growing rejection of both capital punishment and life imprisonment in international and national legal systems

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Law, society, and capital punishment in Asia

By David T. Johnson / Franklin E. Zimring / Punishment and Society, on 1 January 2008


2008

Article

Japan


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Students of capital punishment need to study Asia, the site of at least 85 percent and as many as 95 percent of the world’s executions. This article explores the varieties of Asian capital punishment in two complementary ways. Cross-sectionally, the impression of uniformity that comes from classifying 95 percent of the population of Asia as living in executing states breaks down when closer attention is paid to the character of capital punishment policy within retentionist nations. Temporally, the general trajectory of capital punishment in the Asian region seems downward (though generalizations about patterns in this part of the world are undermined by significant data problems). Asia is also a useful territory for testing the generality of theories of capital punishment based on European experience. Looking forward, Japan and South Korea, two developed nations in Asia that still retain the death penalty, may indicate what other Asian nations are likely to do as they develop. Ultimately, Asia either will become a major staging area for world-wide abolition or the campaign against capital punishment will fail to achieve global status.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Japan

Document(s)

The political origins of death penalty exceptionalism: Mao Zedong and the practice of capital punishment in contemporary China

By Zhang Ning / Punishment and Society, on 1 January 2008


Article

China


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This article focuses on the role played by Mao Zedong in the making of the Chinese communist legal system in general and in the Chinese practice of the death penalty under Mao in particular. It attempts to study this link through an analysis of an event which represented a landmark, namely the campaign of the regression against counterrevolutionaries launched in 1950—2, and through an examination of three specific cases, which enable us to observe the concrete characteristics of these practices, whose effects continue to be felt in today’s China.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

The death penalty and society in contemporary China

By Wang Yunhai / Punishment ans Society 10(2), 137-151, on 1 January 2008


Article

China


More details See the document

Why are death penalty provisions, convictions and executions so prevalent in China? This article aims to answer this question by way of defining China as a ‘state power’ based society characterized by a socialist social system. The prevalence of the death penalty in China can be explained in terms of the following factors: first, the death penalty is a political issue of state power; second, the death penalty is a crucial part of criminal policy in a ‘state power’-based society; third, the issue of whether to retain the death penalty is a political rather than a legal matter. The Chinese government has improved its death penalty system in recent years; however, the situation has not fundamentally changed. The future of death penalty policy and practice in China will depend primarily on legal rather than democratic developments. The death penalty serves as a focal point that can help illuminate issues of punishment and society in East Asia. Accordingly, this article will elaborate my theories regarding the death penalty in contemporary China, with the primary intent of elucidating the relationship between punishment and society in China.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Capital Punishment and American Exceptionalism

By Carol S. Steiker / Duke Law School, on 1 January 2002


2002

Article

United States


More details See the document

At the same time, the countries that most vigorously employ the death penalty are generally ones that the United States has the least in common with politically, economically, or socially, and ones that the United States is wont to define itself against, as they are among the least democratic and the worst human rights abusers in the world. In recent years, the top five employers of capital punishment were China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States.3 Moreover, in the past twelve years, only seven countries in the world are known to have executed prisoners who were under 18 years old at the time of their crimes: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United States.

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

Document(s)

Cross-National Variability in Capital Punishment: Exploring the Sociopolitical Sources of Its Differential Legal Status

By Terance D. Miethe / Hong Lu / Gini R. Deibert / International Criminal Justice Review, on 1 January 2005


2005

Article


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Guided by existing macrolevel theories on punishment and society, the present study explores the independent and conjunctive effects of measures of sociopolitical conditions on the legal retention of capital punishment in 185 nations in the 21st century. Significant correlations are found between a nation’s retention of legal executions for ordinary crimes and its level of economic development, primary religious orientation, citizens’ voice in governance, political stability, and recent history of extrajudicial executions. Subsequent multivariate analyses through qualitative comparative methods reveal substantial context-specific effects and wide variability in legal retention even within countries with similar sociopolitical structures. These results are then discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for future cross-national research on punishment and society.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

From seventy-eight to zero: Why executions declined after Taiwan’s democratization

By Fort Fu-Te Liao / Punishment and Society, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

Taiwan


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This article examines, from a legal perspective, why executions in Taiwan declined from 78 in 1990 to zero in 2006. The inquiry focuses on three considerations: the number of laws that authorized employment of the death penalty; the code of criminal procedure; and the manner in which executions were carried out, including the manner in which amnesty was granted. The article argues that the ratification of international covenants and constitutional interpretations did not play a significant role in the decline, and that several factors that did play a role included the annulment or amendment of laws, changes in criminal procedure, establishment of and further amendments to guidelines for execution and two laws for reducing sentences. This article maintains that the absence of executions in 2006 is a unique situation that will not last because some inmates remain on death row, meaning that executions in Taiwan will continue unless the death penalty is abolished. However, the article concludes that the guarantee of the utmost human right, the right to life, can be sustained in Taiwan through the demands of democratic majority rule.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Taiwan
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Incestuous Rape and the Death Penalty in the Philippines: Psychological and Legal Implications

By Seema Kandelia / Philippine Law Journal, on 1 January 2006


2006

Article

Philippines


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The majority of those on death row in the Philippines have been convicted of rape crimes, including rape of a minor, rape of a family member and other aggravated forms of rape. Looking at incestuous rape in particular, this paper will examine some of the psychological and legal difficulties of imposing the death penalty for such a crime. It will focus on the effects the administration of the death penalty has on the victim and the victim’s family, as well as looking at some of the legal, evidential and procedural problems that arise in this jurisdiction’s imposition of the death penalty for rape.Despite the continued existence of the death penalty for incestuous rape, the number of reported cases has not diminished. Recognising this, local women’s groups in the Philippines have called for the root causes of incest and other forms of violence against women to be addressed rather than imposing the death penalty for rape. This response will also be considered within the broader context of Filipino gender relations.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Philippines
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Is it Time to Kill the Death Penalty?: A View from the Bench and the Bar

By Lupe S. Salinas / American Journal of Criminal Law, on 1 January 2006


Article

United States


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Has the imposition of death improved our stance in this battle for security of our fellow man? Does it have a “sting” in the sense of deterring man from killing men, women and children? Has society been victorious in preventing the killing? The simple answer is that the death penalty in America has done little to deter or prevent those inclined to kill from killing. Another concern is whether our system has terminated the lives of innocent individuals. 3 Under these circumstances, what should we as a society do insofar as our criminal justice system is concerned? In this article I seek to address those questions and ultimately recommend an overhaul in our death penalty approach. Is it time to …

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

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in Japan: An “Absurd” Punishment

By Joachim Herrmann / Brooklyn Law Review, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

Japan


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This article outlines some of the main arguments against the death penalty in Japan.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Japan

Document(s)

A Matter of Life and Death: The Effect of Life Without-Parole Statutes on Capital Punishment

By Harvard Law Review, on 1 January 2006


2006

Article

United States


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Activists have embraced the life-without-parole alternative because the availability of parole is often a key factor for jurors deciding whether of not to impose a sentence of life or death.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Sentencing Alternatives,

Document(s)

Death and Harmless Error: A Rhetorical Response to Judging Innocence

By Colin P. Starger / Columbia School of Law, on 1 January 2011


2011

Article

United States


More details See the document

The ‘Garret Study’ analyses the first 200 post conviction DNA exonerations in the United States. This article wheights the impact of the study and how it will depend on how jurists, politicians, and scholars extrapolate the explanatory power of the data.

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

Document(s)

Judging Innocence

By Brandon Garrett / Columbia School of Law, on 1 January 2008


2008

Article

United States


More details See the document

This empirical study examines for the first time how the criminal system in the United States handled the cases of people who were subsequently found innocent through postconviction DNA testing. The data collected tell the story of this unique group of exonerees, starting with their criminal trials, moving through levels of direct appeals and habeas corpus review, and ending with their eventual exonerations. Beginning with the trials of these exonerees, this study examines the leading types of evidence supporting their wrongful convictions, which were erroneous eyewitness identifications, forensic evidence, informant testimony, and false confessions. Yet our system of criminal appeals and postconviction review poorly addressed factual deficiencies in these trials. Few exonerees brought claims regarding those facts or claims alleging their innocence. For those who did, hardly any claims were granted by courts. Far from recognizing innocence, courts often denied relief by finding errors to be harmless.

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

Document(s)

Capital punishment and American culture

By David Garland / Punishment & Society 7, 347-376, on 1 January 2005


2005

Article

United States


More details See the document

This is an essay about capital punishment and American culture. Its point of departure is the recent publication of several books and articles suggesting that the USA’s retention of the death penalty is an expansion of an underlying cultural tradition that creats an elective affinity between American society and the execution of criminal offenders. The implicit – and sometimes explicit claim – of this new literature is that today’s capital punishment system is an insurance of ‘American exceptionalism’, an expression of a deep and abiding condition that has shaped the American nation from its formative years to the present.

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

Document(s)

Failure to Apply the Flynn Correction in Death Penalty Litigation: Standard Practice of Today Maybe, but Certainly Malpractice of Tomorrow

By John E. Wright / John Niland / Cecil R. Reynolds / Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment / Michal Rosenn, on 1 January 2010


2010

Article

United States


More details See the document

The Flynn Effect is a well documented phenomenon demonstrating score increases on IQ measures over time that average about 0.3 points per year. Normative adjustments to scores derived from IQ measures normed more than a year or so prior to the time of testing an individual have become controversial in several settings but especially so in matters of death penalty litigation. Here we make the argument that if the Flynn Effect is real, then a Flynn Correction should be applied to obtained IQs in order to obtain the most accurate estimate of IQ possible. To fail to provide the most accurate estimate possible in matters that are truly life and death decisions seems wholly indefensible.

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

Document(s)

The Use of Peremptory Challenges in Capital Murder Trials: A Legal and Empirical Analysis

By George Woodworth / David C. Baldus / David Zuckerman / University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law / Neil Alan Weiner / Barbara Broffitt, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

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,

Document(s)

Death and Deterrence Redux: Science, Law and Causal Reasoning on Capital Punishment

By Jeffrey Fagan / Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, on 1 January 2006


2006

Article

United States


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A recent cohort of studies report deterrent effects of capital punishment that substantially exceed almost all previous estimates of lives saved by execution. Some of the new studies go further to claim that pardons, commutations, and exonerations cause murders to increase, as does trial delay. This putative life-life tradeoff is the basis for claims by legal academics and advocates of a moral imperative to aggressively prosecute capital crimes, brushing off evidentiary doubts as unreasonable cautions that place potential beneficiaries at risk of severe harm. Challenges to this “new deterrence” literature find that the evidence is too unstable and unreliable to support policy choices on capital punishment. This article identifies numerous technical and conceptual errors in the “new deterrence” studies that further erode their reliability: inappropriate methods of statistical analysis, failures to consider several factors such as drug epidemics that drive murder rates, missing data on key variables in key states, the tyranny of a few outlier states and years, weak to non-existent tests of concurrent effects of incarceration, inadequate instruments to disentangle statistical confounding of murder rates with death sentences and other punishments, failure to consider the general performance of the criminal justice system as a competing deterrent, artifactual results from truncated time frames, and the absence of any direct test of the components of contemporary theoretical constructions of deterrence. Re-analysis of one of the data sets shows that even simple adjustments to the data produce contradictory results, while alternate statistical methods produce contrary estimates. But the central mistake in this enterprise is one of causal reasoning: the attempt to draw causal inferences from a flawed and limited set of observational data, the absence of direct tests of the moving parts of the deterrence story, and the failure to address important competing influences on murder. There is no reliable, scientifically sound evidence that pits execution against a robust set of competing explanations to identify whether it exerts a deterrent effect that is uniquely and sufficiently powerful to overwhelm the recurring epidemic cycles of murder. This and other rebukes remind us to invoke tough, neutral social science standards and commonsense causal reasoning before expanding the use of execution with its attendant risks and costs.

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

Document(s)

Innocents Convicted: An Empirically Justified Factual Wrongful Conviction Rate

By D. Michael Risinger / Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, on 1 January 2007


2007

Article

United States


More details See the document

To a great extent, those who believe that our criminal justice system rarely convicts the factually innocent and those who believe such miscarriages are rife have generally talked past each other for want of any empirically-justified factual innocence wrongful conviction rate. This article remedies at least a part of this problem by establishing the first such empirically justified wrongful conviction rate ever for a significant universe of real world serious crimes: capital rape-murders in the 1980’s. Using DNA exonerations for capital rape-murders from 1982 through 1989 as a numerator, and a 406-member sample of the 2235 capital sentences imposed during this period, this article shows that 21.45%, or around 479 of those, were cases of capital rape murder. Data supplied by the Innocence Project of Cardozo Law School and newly developed for this article show that only 67% of those cases would be expected to yield usable DNA for analysis. Combining these figures and dividing the numerator by the resulting denominator, a minimum factually wrongful conviction rate for capital rape-murder in the 1980’s emerges: 3.3%. The article goes on to consider the likely ceiling accompanying this 3.3% floor, arriving at a slightly softer number for the maximum factual error rate of around 5%. The article then goes on to analyze the implications of a factual error rate of 3.3%-5% for both those who currently claim errors are extremely rare, and those who claim they are extremely common. Extension of the 3.3%-5% to other capital and non-capital categories of crime is discussed, and standards of moral duty to support system reform in the light of such error rates is considered at length.

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

Document(s)

Examining Public Opinion about Crime and Justice: A Statewide Study

By Eric Johnston / Barbara Sims / Criminal Justice Policy Review, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

United States


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As noted by Flanagan (1996), public opinion polls about crime and justice can act as a social barometer providing important data to policy makers regarding what the public is willing, or is not willing, to accept when it comes to proposed legislation and/or intervention programming. This paper reports findings from the 2001 Penn State Poll, a random telephone survey of Pennsylvanians, 18 years of age or older, in which citizens were asked about their attitudes toward and perceptions of such issues as fear of crime, capital punishment, the most important goal of prison, and where they would most like to see their tax dollars spent (building more prisons vs. early intervention programs with troubled youth). Significant differences were found within certain demographic groups across these sets of questions, and in a predictive model, gender, race/ethnicity, and education had a greater impact on citizens’ support for capital punishment than did their fear of crime. Overall, findings suggest that the public is not as punitive as it is sometimes believed to be by legislators and policy makers.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Public opinion,