The ultimate punishment?

T

he United States is certainly not the only

country to practise the death penalty, but

it is the country with the most transparent

appeal and review procedure, and a country in

which there has been a long and complex debate

over its continued use. Europe, on the other

hand, has emphatically rejected the death

penalty: Protocols 6 and 13 of the European

Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) prohibit

member states of the Council of Europe from

reintroducing the death penalty under any

circumstances, and ratification of the ECHR is

a condition for membership of the European

Union. To an extent the European position

reflects a desire to define Europe as different to

• we might say more ‘civilised’ than – the United

States. However, that the debate in the United

States has been so complex and involved suggests

that capital punishment cannot be dismissed as

an atavistic activity incapable of any justification.

Before reading the chapter consider your own

attitudes to the death penalty: what arguments

can you think of in its favour, and which

against? How much weight would you attach to

each argument? Are your arguments for the

death penalty consistent with one another?

Likewise, are the arguments against consistent?

(Although popular debate focuses to a great

extent on whether capital punishment deters it

is important to recognise that deterrence is only

one consideration.)

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