Death Penalty

The Hidden Cost of the Death Penalty in India

The Hidden Cost of the Death Penalty in India

The death penalty needs to have significant social benefits, not attainable with the next most severe form of punishment, life imprisonment, for it to be justified. Existing arguments already show...
Criminal Justice and the Death Penalty in India: An Opinion Study with 60 Former Supreme Court Judges

Criminal Justice and the Death Penalty in India: An Opinion Study with 60 Former Supreme Court Judges

The Centre on the Death Penalty at National Law University, Delhi conducted an opinion study with 60 former Indian Supreme Court judges to understand their perspectives on India’s criminal justice...
Death Sentences in the Delhi Gang Rape Case: Brutality as Trumps

Death Sentences in the Delhi Gang Rape Case: Brutality as Trumps

On 16th December 2012, a particularly disturbing case of gangrape and murder in New Delhi (‘the Delhi gangrape case’) set off massive nationwide protests. Widespread discussions on sexual violence in...
Midazolam and the Lethal Injection – ‘In re: Ohio Execution Protocol Litigation’

Midazolam and the Lethal Injection – ‘In re: Ohio Execution Protocol Litigation’

On January 26 2017, a federal court in Ohio ruled that its current execution method is unconstitutional. This was on the basis that the use of the first drug in...
The Rise of the Death Penalty in the Middle East and North Africa

The Rise of the Death Penalty in the Middle East and North Africa

In the six years following the Arab Spring, there has been a notable increase in death sentences and executions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In this episode,...
Donald Trump is President: What are the Implications for the Death Penalty?

Donald Trump is President: What are the Implications for the Death Penalty?

Prior to the election of Donald Trump, death penalty abolitionists were quietly confident that capital punishment was nearing its inevitable end in the United States. The number of executions has...
Killing Time: A Comment on the Case of Brandon Astor

Killing Time: A Comment on the Case of Brandon Astor

On 3 February 2016, the State of Georgia executed a 72 year old man – Brandon Astor – by lethal injection. Astor was convicted of killing a convenience store manager...
Forgotten Victims: Children of Parents Sentenced to Death or Executed

Forgotten Victims: Children of Parents Sentenced to Death or Executed

According to recent figures from Amnesty International, at least 1,634 executions took place worldwide last year—the highest reported number in more than 25 years. Given the secrecy surrounding many cases,...
The UK and Saudi Arabia: Human Rights and the Perils of Petrodollar Morality – Part I

The UK and Saudi Arabia: Human Rights and the Perils of Petrodollar Morality – Part I

The Human Rights and Democracy Report (2015) recently released by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office carries a curiously worded statement by Prime Minister David Cameron: “We condemn and do...
UN Human Rights Council Adopts Belgian Resolution on Capital Punishment

UN Human Rights Council Adopts Belgian Resolution on Capital Punishment

On 1 October 2015, the UN Human Rights Council (‘UNHRC’) in Geneva adopted a resolution on capital punishment (‘the resolution’) drafted by Belgium. Belgium took the initiative to draft the...
Law Commission of India Recommends Abolition of the Death Penalty: A Historic First Step

Law Commission of India Recommends Abolition of the Death Penalty: A Historic First Step

In what can be termed as a watershed moment in the fight against death penalty in India, the Law Commission in its 262nd report (‘2015 report’) has recommended the abolition...
The Death Penalty Lives on in Zambia Despite the Country’s Constitutional Reform

The Death Penalty Lives on in Zambia Despite the Country’s Constitutional Reform

Zambia, like most countries in Africa, has retained the death sentence on its criminal law statutes for a limited number of offences. Recently, though, and against the tide of death...
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